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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Municipal Property Taxation In Law And Practice: A Descriptive Comparative Study Between Alberta And Ontario, Arben Buzuku Aug 2021

Municipal Property Taxation In Law And Practice: A Descriptive Comparative Study Between Alberta And Ontario, Arben Buzuku

MPA Major Research Papers

Municipal property tax is one of the most important revenue sources for most local governments across the world. The extent to which local governments have control over property taxes is a critical factor – it determines the local revenues in relation with expenditures of services as well as their equity and fairness in relation to taxpayers. In Canada, provincial legislation governs property taxation. As result, municipal autonomy in setting property taxation varies depending on the province. This paper provides a descriptive comparative research of legal aspects of municipal property taxation in 10 mid-size municipalities in Alberta and Ontario. The study …


Recruiting Gen Z Workers To Ontario Municipalities: A Study Of How Ontario Municipalities Can Improve Recruitment Strategies To Attract Gen Z Workers, Kaitlin Bos Jul 2021

Recruiting Gen Z Workers To Ontario Municipalities: A Study Of How Ontario Municipalities Can Improve Recruitment Strategies To Attract Gen Z Workers, Kaitlin Bos

MPA Major Research Papers

The generational shift from Millennials to Generation Z (Gen Z) is perhaps the most critical generational shift for modern day municipalities. While Generation Y, Millennials, and the generations before them continue to play a key role in the direction and success of local government organizations. It is important to analyze the trends of the incoming generation of workers to ensure long-term success and prosperity. This research report revolves around the research question, “How can Ontario municipalities improve their recruitment strategies to attract Generation Z workers?” Ontario municipalities must recognize the values of Gen Z’s and reconfigure their external recruitment practices …


An Analysis Of A Canadian Framework Of Police Response’S On Sexual Assaults: Victim Advocate Case Review Program, Ardiana Berisha Jul 2021

An Analysis Of A Canadian Framework Of Police Response’S On Sexual Assaults: Victim Advocate Case Review Program, Ardiana Berisha

MPA Major Research Papers

One in five sexual assault cases reported to police are deemed to be baseless by investigating officers and are therefore coded as “unfounded”. High rates of unfounded sexual assault cases have revealed significant flaws within the justice system as women’s stories are disbelieved by the police. Coding sexual assault cases as unfounded has become common practice amongst police services across Canada as police officers continue to dismiss sexual violence against women. Police officers play a crucial role as they are the first point of contact within the justice system that determine whether an offence has been committed. Police services across …


What Is The Best Leadership Style To Confront Anti-Black Racism And Advance Racial Equity In Transit Organizations?, André Darmanin Jul 2021

What Is The Best Leadership Style To Confront Anti-Black Racism And Advance Racial Equity In Transit Organizations?, André Darmanin

MPA Major Research Papers

The author conducts the research question explaining their curiosity on which leadership style is the most appropriate to tackle anti-Black racism and advance racial equity. The preliminary investigation will utilize existing research, including Gooden’s (2014) theory of nervousness within public administrators and organizations, combined with transformational and adaptive leadership styles. Looking at the organizational structure and challenges of operating a large organization like the Toronto Transit Commission is the example used for this research. The research will show that using an adaptive leadership style is the most effective in eradicating Anti-Black racism and advancing racial equity in transit organizations. The …


Maximizing Electoral Participation: How Accessibility And Outreach Factors Impact Electoral Participation In Online Elections, Christopher Casale Jul 2021

Maximizing Electoral Participation: How Accessibility And Outreach Factors Impact Electoral Participation In Online Elections, Christopher Casale

MPA Major Research Papers

Online voting in Canadian municipalities has proven to result in at least some moderate increase in the number of individuals participating in a given election. What is less apparent is how the implementation of these voting solutions affects voter turnout. This paper seeks to answer the question, what accessibility and outreach factors maximize voter turnout in online elections. This text will analyze six Ontario municipalities who have implemented internet voting for the first time in 2018. Assessing the effectiveness of their voter engagement strategies for that election period.


Strategic Management In Ontario Regional Government: Evaluating The Factors For Successful Policy Implementation For Intensification And Infrastructure Investment, Valerie Hendry Jul 2021

Strategic Management In Ontario Regional Government: Evaluating The Factors For Successful Policy Implementation For Intensification And Infrastructure Investment, Valerie Hendry

MPA Major Research Papers

In this study, I identify the strategic management factors for successful policy implementation for intensification and infrastructure investment in regional governments. These factors include organizational capacities, administrative leadership within government, and administrative governance. To examine these themes, I employed a qualitative case study analysis to evaluate how certain strategic management factors and processes influence regional government decisions and outcomes related to the prioritization of water and sewer infrastructure investment in intensification areas to comply with the provincial 2006 Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The case study uses strategic management theory to help to analyze and explain observed data …


Monitoring & Evaluation Content In Municipal Official Plans: An Assessment Of Plan Quality & Implementation Actions, Owen Mccabe Jul 2021

Monitoring & Evaluation Content In Municipal Official Plans: An Assessment Of Plan Quality & Implementation Actions, Owen Mccabe

MPA Major Research Papers

Municipal official plans are important tools in the Province of Ontario’s land use planning system. As documents that guide how communities manage change, they are a central element of planning practice and important objects of research. Official plans are not static – they are updated regularly as part of a plan-making cycle that includes issue identification, policy development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. This research paper is focussed on the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the plan-making cycle, and specifically, the content in municipal official plans that addresses and guides these practices. It builds on the existing plan quality and …


Political Practice: The Career Mobility And Ambitions Of Local Councillors, Rachel Nauta Jul 2021

Political Practice: The Career Mobility And Ambitions Of Local Councillors, Rachel Nauta

MPA Major Research Papers

This research project explores the career ambitions of local politicians to seek office at higher levels of government. Testing theories from existing political ambition research in other jurisdictions, the paper explores factors of political ambition in Ontario through a survey of first-time local councillors and an archival study of past multi-level political careers. Success in politics can follow many paths, but results from the survey indicate that councillors who were younger, male, extraverted, and involved in partisan political activities were more likely to have ambitions for higher office. Further, while American political careers tend to move upward from local to …


Does Long Term Strategic Planning Lead To Improved Financial Performance? A Case Study In Ontario Municipalities, Renato Pullia Jul 2021

Does Long Term Strategic Planning Lead To Improved Financial Performance? A Case Study In Ontario Municipalities, Renato Pullia

MPA Major Research Papers

This research looks at nine municipalities in Ontario that either have or have not adopted a strategic plan of 10+ years and a long-term financial plan of 5+ years, and assesses their financial change based on a set of financial criteria at two different points in time, 2000 and 2019. Using statistical analysis and longitudinal comparison, the research aims to test the hypothesis that strategic planning with a 10+ years’ time horizon provides a framework for longer-term financial decision-making, including strategies and key actions to facilitate multi-year, integrated, strategic decision-making, and provides more financially sound municipal entities than those municipalities …


Alternative Revenue Generation In Ontario Municipalities: The Utilization Of Municipal Accommodation Tax (Mat), Hayley Watts Jul 2021

Alternative Revenue Generation In Ontario Municipalities: The Utilization Of Municipal Accommodation Tax (Mat), Hayley Watts

MPA Major Research Papers

In recent years the Province of Ontario has enabled municipalities to adopt accommodation taxes as a revenue generating tool. There is an absence of data in Canada as to what this revenue is being utilized for. Most of the literature on the topic comes out of the United States and Europe, where hotel and accommodation taxes have been commonplace for many years, although a lot of the research focuses on the impacts of accommodation taxes on tourism. Hypothesising that the accommodation tax in Ontario is being utilized as a revenue-generating tool to offset other line items in municipal budgets, this …


The Financial And Environmental Viability Of Municipally Operated Hybrid Ambulance Fleets In Ontario: Calculating The Return-On-Investment Of Hybrid Ambulance Assets In Oxford County From 2017-2021, Stephen Edwards Jul 2021

The Financial And Environmental Viability Of Municipally Operated Hybrid Ambulance Fleets In Ontario: Calculating The Return-On-Investment Of Hybrid Ambulance Assets In Oxford County From 2017-2021, Stephen Edwards

MPA Major Research Papers

On October 26, 2017 Oxford County became the first municipality in Canada to deploy gasoline-electric hybrid ambulances as part of their Community Sustainability Plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting low-carbon transportation. The Oxford solution utilizes aftermarket hybrid electric-gasoline propulsion systems that leverage two primary technologies: regenerative braking, which uses the inertia of the vehicle to store energy in a battery cell during deceleration; and acceleration assist, which uses this stored energy to assist propulsion of the vehicle during acceleration events and thereby reduces gasoline consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Due to high demand for aftermarket hybrid propulsion …


Accountability: Understanding The Effect Of Governance Structures On Land Ambulance Services In Ontario, Connected By Consolidated Municipal Services Management (Cmsm) Agreements, Michael Longeway Jul 2021

Accountability: Understanding The Effect Of Governance Structures On Land Ambulance Services In Ontario, Connected By Consolidated Municipal Services Management (Cmsm) Agreements, Michael Longeway

MPA Major Research Papers

Ontario has seen significant changes across the municipal landscape, including the realignment of service responsibilities. One of the products of this realignment was the introduction of the CMSM program in 1998, which saw local municipalities take on the responsibilities for many services, including land ambulance. Land ambulance is an important life-saving service (Aringhieri et al. 2017). Decision-makers must ensure that such services must be delivered with optimal performance. As a public service in Ontario, this includes democratic performance. Crucial to the anchorage of democratic performance is accountability. Accountability is a transaction of information, dialogue, and rewards/sanctions (Brandsma and Schillemans 2012). …


The Impact Of Covid-19 On Library Board Governance: An Analysis Of Public Library Board Meeting Processes And Participation In Canada In 2020, Sarah Macintyre Jul 2021

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Library Board Governance: An Analysis Of Public Library Board Meeting Processes And Participation In Canada In 2020, Sarah Macintyre

MPA Major Research Papers

In March 2020, provincial and municipal governments in Canada implemented measures to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, municipalities had to quickly transition to holding their public meetings in new ways. Some organizations moved to teleconference meetings, while others used videoconferencing software. Public libraries were no exception to this, and library boards began holding their public board meetings electronically. The aims of this study are threefold: First, to identify what methods were used to hold electronic public library board meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, second, to determine whether such methods resulted in a change in public …


Watching But Unseen? An Evaluation Of The Transparency Of The Online Presence Of Integrity Commissioners In Ontario, Kirby Oudekerk Jul 2021

Watching But Unseen? An Evaluation Of The Transparency Of The Online Presence Of Integrity Commissioners In Ontario, Kirby Oudekerk

MPA Major Research Papers

The expected benefits of transparency in government, such as increased public engagement and trust, are well established. Transparency also enables a better accounting of elected officials by the public, but this accounting depends on having rules in place and someone responsible for enforcing those rules. The Ontario government took steps to provide this for local governments in Ontario when it permitted municipalities to create codes of conduct and to hire a municipal Integrity Commissioner to enforce those codes. However, the ultimate accountability is delivered by the voting public during municipal elections and, in order for this political accountability regime to …


Examining Connected And Automated Vehicle (Cav) Policy In Ontario: A Modified Multiple Streams Framework Analysis, James Scott Jul 2021

Examining Connected And Automated Vehicle (Cav) Policy In Ontario: A Modified Multiple Streams Framework Analysis, James Scott

MPA Major Research Papers

This research paper utilizes Kingdon’s (1984) Multiple Streams Framework to systematically analyze influential agenda-setting variables in the policy domain of connected and automated vehicles (CAV) in Ontario, Canada. The paper also leverages the Five Stream Confluence Model, a model which builds on the Multiple Streams Framework and is designed by Howlett et al. (2015) to analyze policy formation. The two foundational research questions that will guide the overall direction of this paper are: (1) What influenced Ontario to be the first province in Canada to legislate connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) in 2015? (2) Have influential agenda-setting variables translated through …


Determinants Of Success: The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, Michaela Sferrazza Jul 2021

Determinants Of Success: The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, Michaela Sferrazza

MPA Major Research Papers

Water security and access within First Nations communities entails a complex set of issues. However, this does not excuse government authorities’ inadequacies to address the inequity among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada regarding access to safe water. The Human Rights Watch describes access to safe drinking water “as a fundamental human right easily enjoyed by most Canadians” (Human Rights Watch 2016), and one that is integral to health and wellbeing. Many Indigenous communities have long been lacking access to clean, potable water which has many socio-economic implications. In a 2012 article written by White et al., they articulate that …


Aging In Place In Rural Canada: A Policy Analysis Of Aging In Place Across Canada, Aleah Whalen Jul 2021

Aging In Place In Rural Canada: A Policy Analysis Of Aging In Place Across Canada, Aleah Whalen

MPA Major Research Papers

This research paper attempts to answer the question of: how rural municipalities are preparing for an aging population across Canada? A random sample of one hundred rural municipalities were selected and analyzed for their availability of an aging policy. The aging policies adopted by municipalities are measured to demonstrate aging community planning preparedness from the Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities: A Guide. Realizing the impact of an aging population, demonstrates a need for addressing specific senior care at the local level. The findings of this study suggest that small rural municipalities are not preparing equally to meet the identified needs …


Bracing For Impact: A Review Of Ontario Municipalities’ Budgeting & Alignment To Asset Management, Jonathon Graham Feb 2021

Bracing For Impact: A Review Of Ontario Municipalities’ Budgeting & Alignment To Asset Management, Jonathon Graham

MPA Major Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate emerging best practices in the municipal sector arising from the implementation of Ontario Regulation 588/17 – Asset Management Planning for Municipal Infrastructure and to assess the extent to which these best practices have been adopted by Ontario municipalities. The sample pool consists of three municipalities, falling into two tier levels of municipal government. Tiers are defined by characteristics such as population and density, which often correlates to a municipalities asset inventory. The lower tier municipalities in the sample are the Town of Minto and the Town of Petrolia. The single tier sample …