Delivery by Design: Intermunicipal Contracting, Shared Services, and Canadian Local Government

by Zachary Spicer

Overview

Municipalities in Canada have an array of servicing options available to them when producing or delivering local services, such as water, public transit, and waste collection, including in-house provision or privatization. However, services may also be contracted or jointly-delivered with neighbouring municipalities – a practice some local governments are increasingly gravitating towards.

Delivery by Design sheds light on this practice in Canadian local government by examining three crucial questions: Why do municipalities cooperate? What is being shared or contracted with other governments? And what leads to successful or unsuccessful relationships between municipalities? The book finds that Canadian municipalities are cooperating fairly regularly, but are doing so in a small number of policy areas, mainly emergency and administrative services. Zachary Spicer examines these types of relationships, explaining how they will be crucial in the future as local services are increasingly shared or jointly delivered by municipal governments.

Relying on extensive data and document collection, surveys, and a series of primary interviews with local decision-makers, Delivery by Design explores the nature of interlocal collaboration in Canada, mapping out a relatively understudied process in local governance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487505240
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	08/25/2022
Pages:	161
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Zachary Spicer is an associate professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Mapping the Cooperative Landscape
3. Explaining Cooperation
4. Agreement Failure and Non-cooperation
5. The Role of the Provinces
6. Conclusion
Works Cited

What People are Saying About This

Christopher Alcantara

"Zachary Spicer is the leading scholar on the study of intermunicipal cooperation in Canada and this book shows why.　 It is a culmination of a decade of work on this topic, relying on an impressive range of theories, primary documents, elite interviews, and survey data to show why and how local governments in Canada come together to address the many challenges they face individually and collectively."

Melville McMillan

"Delivery by Design is an important contribution to the public administration community focused on local government. Reporting primarily on two surveys, Spicer provides substantial new and revealing evidence and insight interpreted through comprehensive integration with the academic literature. This book is a must read for scholars and practitioners engaged in cooperation among local governments."

Sandra Breux

"Delivery by Design looks at a largely unknown reality: cooperation between municipalities. By revealing the nature, reasons for, and limitations of this cooperation, Zachary Spicer's book is an original contribution that offers a fresh look at how municipalities conceive of their roles and also lays the groundwork for further research on the operation and delivery of services at this level of government."

Editorial Reviews

"Zachary Spicer is the leading scholar on the study of intermunicipal cooperation in Canada and this book shows why.　 It is a culmination of a decade of work on this topic, relying on an impressive range of theories, primary documents, elite interviews, and survey data to show why and how local governments in Canada come together to address the many challenges they face individually and collectively."

—Christopher Alcantara, Professor of Political Science, The University of Western Ontario

" Delivery by Design looks at a largely unknown reality: cooperation between municipalities. By revealing the nature, reasons for, and limitations of this cooperation, Zachary Spicer’s book is an original contribution that offers a fresh look at how municipalities conceive of their roles and also lays the groundwork for further research on the operation and delivery of services at this level of government."

—Sandra Breux, Professor of Urban Studies, INRS University

" Delivery by Design is an important contribution to the public administration community focused on local government. Reporting primarily on two surveys, Spicer provides substantial new and revealing evidence and insight interpreted through comprehensive integration with the academic literature. This book is a must read for scholars and practitioners engaged in cooperation among local governments."

—Melville McMillan, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Alberta

From the Publisher