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Jon Farmer |
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Priorities |
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Triple bottom line
analysis When most people think of 'the bottom line’ they’re only talking about financial costs and benefits of a decision. Triple bottom line (TBL) analysis adds the social and environmental costs and benefits to that equation. When we aren’t taking the financial, environmental, and social reality into account then we can’t make the best decisions for our community. Triple bottom line frameworks are practical tools being used in some municipalities. The city of Saskatoon started using TBL tools in 2020 across city departments. Grey Highlands worked with the University of Guelph to develop a unique local lens inspired by TBL perspectives called the Grey Highlands Lens. Multisolving ”Multisolving is a growing movement around the world. When people work together across sectors to address multiple problems with one policy or investment, they are multisolving.” - Multisolving Institute. The City of Owen Sound can make the most of our finite resources by looking for single interventions that address multiple problems. For example, developing a composting program could reduce household garbage costs, reduce garbage stink between pick ups, and divert waste from the landfill. Another example: prioritizing policies that support active or public transportation (walking, biking, busses etc) can improve health, reduce traffic congestion and noise, and reduce pollution from exhaust. Asking the right questions The key to finding the right answers is to ask the right questions. The proper question can expose nuance, complexity, and the root of a problem. It can also spark an idea for a creative solution. Asking the right questions requires curiosity, humility, and patience. Questions like ‘how can we make this work?’, ‘why is this an issue?’, ‘how can we partner with other people who share this concern?’ , ‘how did this go wrong?’ or ‘what policies are we missing to address this?’ can all lead to effective responses. The most recent council term saw several hasty motions that were the result of the right questions not being asked or inaccurate assumptions guiding questions. We can do better. Learning from what works other places Owen Sound is a special place but our challenges are not unique. As City Council makes decisions they need to actively seek out creative and effective examples from other municipalities. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel or dig our heels in on particular approaches when there are so many success stories and cautionary tales available to inform our approach. However, council can only learn from those examples if they’re looking for them. There are examples of best practice and frameworks for change being developed by other municipalities and municipal networks like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Public outreach and engagement The City of Owen Sound makes decisions that impact the quality of life for the community of Owen Sound. In order to make sure that those decisions strike the right balance of priorities, council needs to know what the community thinks. Council can do this by actively working to make public engagement more accessible. When people aren’t showing up to public meetings, volunteer positions on city committees are hard to fill, or voter turnout is low, those are all signs that public outreach and engagement needs to improve. There are many informed and engaged people who care about this community. Council needs to see them as assets and as partners in the work of good government and find ways to bring them into the conversation. Doing our fair share The City of Owen Sound has a role to play in addressing the challenges our community is facing. The City cannot solve every problem on its own but we need a council that understands that there is always a way for the City to participate whether that is in amplifying local voices to other tiers of government, collaborating with citizens addressing issues, or using city resources to make positive change. When we don’t do our fair share then we leave problems unaddressed or waste time waiting for other levels of government, individuals, or organizations to do our work for us. The most recent council voted that both the climate crisis and the housing crisis needed to be addressed by the County of Grey instead of Owen Sound despite the fact that many of our neighbouring municipalities have struck their own climate subcommittees or created housing action plans. We benefit from other levels of government sharing their recipes for success but in the end the City has to serve up solutions within our own jurisdiction. Encouraging healthy debate and deep discussion No single person has all the right answers. Every decision can be improved by examining the issue from multiple sides and incorporating more perspectives into the final result. A council that always agrees or that presents a fully ‘united front’ may look efficient but it is not making the best decisions for a community as varied and diverse as Owen Sound. Simply hearing other people’s perspectives is not enough, however. A healthy council will consider them and find a principled solution that strikes the best balance. |