POLI 352 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Allocative Efficiency, Local Economic Development
15 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
POLI352
January 16th 2018
Framing Local Government
Property tax is a primary revenue for the city.
Defining Local Government
- Includes both municipalities and all other governmental entities comprising territories smaller
than provinces and having their own governing bodies with some capacity for autonomous
decision-making
- Municipalities = primary urban political unit possessing corporate status and governmental
authority
o Most important component of Canadian local government
o Primary urban political unit
o Government authority – democratic election, possess taxes power, empower to make
laws, to administer these laws and to enforce within its jurisdiction
o Drive from provincial legislations
- Is there a legal definition of local government in Canada? No, we do not find a legal or
constitutional definition of local government.
- Local government is not synonymous to Municipalities
History of Local Government in Canada
- Canadian municipalities direct descendant of English municipal corporations
- History of independence between municipal corporations and monarch
- Were municipal corporations democratic?
- Transition to democracy
o Municipal Corporations Act 1835
▪ We really began to see this transition to democracy within these institutions
▪ Started to bureau councilor being elected, though only men who owned
property, excluding women and middle and lower class.
▪ The older men are elected, usually they appoint the major themselves, so in
soe plaes the ajor ere’t eleted y large
▪ Council would appoint someone in charge of the finance.
▪ Developing police forces
▪ Provisions for municipalities to engage within certain services, like street
cleaning. We start to see those policy actions.
▪ We also sa the aility for ities ho ere’t uiipalities, ho ated to e
a municipal corporations and applied the entities.
▪ Happeig at the sae tie tha Caada’s
▪ Engaged in their own trading, acting like business entities.
o Municipal Corporations Act 1849
- Established by parliamentary statutes
- A municipal corporation is entitled to do anything that its charter is allowing them to do
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Property tax is a primary revenue for the city. Includes both municipalities and all other governmental entities comprising territories smaller than provinces and having their own governing bodies with some capacity for autonomous decision-making. No, we do not find a legal or constitutional definition of local government. Canadian municipalities direct descendant of english municipal corporations. History of independence between municipal corporations and monarch. A municipal corporation is entitled to do anything that its charter is allowing them to do. We do not talk about municipal corporations as civil servants compared to federal and provincial representatives. Until 19th (cid:373)u(cid:374)i(cid:272)ipal (cid:272)orporatio(cid:374)s (cid:449)ere(cid:374)"t democratic but was being developed. Rural municipalities: townships, counties, districts, upper-tier regional municipalities, provide some services, within their own regions, like roads. In the provinces that have these upper-tier, there are also lower-tier, which will provide more local services to smaller areas.
