If it’s not obvious by the title, I take issue with those opposed to wearing masks in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The anti-maskers make four basic arguments that may sound reasonable at...
The Value of Video Games
I have teenage boys who love playing video games on their PlayStation. To be honest, I like playing on occasion, too. It’s an outlet for stress, frustration, and creativity when I can’t walk, or...
Building Community Success
We should have known 2020 was going to be a bad year from the get-go. In the first week of January, residents of Hinton, Edson and Lacombe learned their local newspapers were closing. The Hinton...
No Simple and Easy Prescription for Community Success
Burlington, Vermont, USA at Church Street Marketplace. When the Covid crisis is over, somebody should write a book and perhaps entitle it, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in the Pandemic.” Top...
The Future is Coming… Now
To thrive, not merely survive, during the pandemic takes more than hand washing and physical distancing. It requires bandwidth. Not all of us who are fortunate enough to have a job and the skills...
Community Building in a time of COVID
Things will never be the same. But things were never going to be the same. The COVID-19 pandemic has not changed the world but it has accelerated the pace of change that was already coming. It...
Leadership in Times of Crisis
Click here to download the complete article in PDF "Leadership in Time of Crisis"Download This document has been prepared as a source of guidance and support for communities facing an emergency that...
Lack of Money is Not the Problem
How many times have we heard ourselves say this: “Times are tough. Our community has problems but not the money to fix them. We’re going to have to put everything on hold and try to maintain the...
No Community is an Island
We are often our own worst enemy. When our community runs into trouble our instinctive reaction is to look for solutions in isolation rather than in collaboration. Recently, a group of communities...
To Cooperate, Collaborate, or Amalgamate?
Our 13 Ways team has done extensive cross-Canada research on municipal cooperation, regionalization, and amalgamation to better understand what works and what doesn’t. Our research, and that done by...