As the President of the Manitoba Municipal Administrators (MMA), I am deeply concerned by the recent announcement from the Rural Municipality of Lakeshore regarding their “administrative deficiencies” and the conduct of their former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the potential involvement of the RCMP.
The role of a CAO is critical in ensuring the effective operation of municipalities, fostering trust, and serving the public interest. While this individual was not a member of MMA, allegations of misconduct or mismanagement can have far-reaching implications, not only for the municipality involved but for the broader reputation of municipal governance across the province.
The MMA is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and accountability in municipal governance. We continue to develop new tools for our members so that they can continue to be strong, professional leaders. In 2023, our membership unanimously adopted our new Professional Code of Conduct, established a new member accountability and discipline process, and increased our on-going professional development requirement by 20 percent. At our annual conference in September, our members passed the Certified Manitoba Municipal Administrator Bylaw, which will allow our association to better regulate the issuance of the CMMA designation. Our members hold a duty-of-care to the public, and as such our by-laws that set out these measures are available on our website, www.municipaladministrators.ca.
We continue to advocate that Councils should require, as a condition of employment, that their administrators be members of the MMA, and therefore bound by our professional code of conduct, our member standards, and our educational requirements.
As the association that represents professional municipal administrators in Manitoba, we have developed a system that ensures accountability of our members and holds them to high professional, ethical and educational standards. When Councils hire a member of our association, they can be confident that they are hiring a strong, professional leader, and citizens can be confident that municipal resources are responsibly managed.
The changes we have made and continue to make show our commitment to supporting strong local governance in Manitoba. As we move ahead with professionalizing our association, we look forward to working with the Province of Manitoba to make the necessary changes to the Manitoba Municipal Administrators Act so that we can be a part of the solution.
We commend the RM of Lakeshore for its transparency in addressing this issue and cooperating with authorities. The MMA remains committed to supporting Manitoba’s municipal administrators and ensuring the public trust is maintained in our local governments.
Nicole Chychota
President, Manitoba Municipal Administrators