The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work · The Political Trenches

5.01: Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators

·54 min·3 clips

Brenda says CAO work is becoming a "test of endurance" because of incivility and disinformation.

1. The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work opens Season 5 with a focus on the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators and the role of the CAO in Canada. 2. Hosts Chris and Ian frame the episode around CAMA President Brenda Orchard, who is also CAO of Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, and has 25 years in senior municipal administration. 3. The episode asks what a CAO is for, with the interview centered on supporting staff, supporting council, and acting as a conduit between the two. 4. Greater Sudbury becomes the first local-government story, as new CAO Sherry Litterman terminates five senior city managers and one support staff member in early January 2026. 5. The Sudbury discussion also notes the closure of the Office of the Auditor General at the end of 2025, which eliminated related roles and changed the leadership structure. 6. Ian describes the Sudbury move as "seismic" and says more than half of the senior leadership team could be new after the restructuring. 7. The hosts debate transparency, public accountability, and whether council should know about major structural changes before they happen. 8. Ian argues that the CAO controls "how the sausage gets made," while council sets the direction and wants to know about changes in advance. 9. The episode then shifts to Tiny Township Council and a debate over remuneration levels for the next municipal term. 10. One councillor says no amount of money can make up for "nonsense" directed at them and their family on social media. 11. Ian argues that compensation should be tied to workload, that most residents do not see the preparation and follow-up work, and that some municipalities use per diems or honorariums instead of salaries. 12. He also says any pay changes should take effect after the fall election, which keeps the current council out of the immediate compensation decision. 13. The conversation widens to the 2026 municipal election cycle, including Manitoba, British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories hamlets, and even-numbered Saskatchewan rural municipal districts. 14. Ian says nearly 26 million people live in the jurisdictions voting in 2026 and estimates that about two-thirds of them can vote. 15. He also says turnout around 30% means a relatively small share of eligible voters will decide local leadership. 16. The discussion then revisits a CBC Manitoba story about Donna Cox of the rural municipality of Thompson, whose attempt to remove her from office was struck down by the courts. 17. Ian says the municipality appeared to change meeting times so she could not attend after she had been elected under the earlier schedule. 18. Brenda Orchard joins later and says CAMA exists as a nationwide network where CAOs can share best practices, failures, and lived experience that is not found in books. 19. Her interview has a practical, professional tone, with examples from masterminds, executive assistants, FCM, incivility toolkits, and a revised council orientation toolkit that is now almost 200 pages long. 20. Listeners who care about municipal governance, CAO-council relations, and local election dynamics will get the most from it, while listeners wanting light entertainment or fast-moving news may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical look at CAO work, council process, and the cost of a prolonged legal fight.

Season 5 keeps the CAO role at the center, pairing a Canadian wide look through CAMA with local government stories from Greater Sudbury, Tiny, and Manitoba. Brenda Orchard's interview helps tie those threads back to the work municipal administrators do across the country.

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Want a clear read on the CAO role in the municipal trenches?

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