Municipal Cabinets

Edmonton's new mayor, Stephen Mandel, elected by as close to a landslide as you can get with three major candidates all of whom were tied in the last opinion poll, is now mooting the notion of introducing a municipal cabinet (via The Journal):

Details of the scheme still have to be worked out, but it would have some similarities to federal and provincial cabinets, with each council member handed a specific area to focus on -- such as transit, social issues or recreation -- in addition to their regular council duties.

However, since Edmonton's civic government is non-partisan, councillors would not wield special powers over their chosen areas like federal and provincial ministers do.

Instead, councillors would be asked to conduct research on issues within their portfolio, keep up to speed on new developments and act as the point person during meetings, news conferences and public discussions.

"I think councillors need to drive agendas. The mayor can only do so much," Mandel said. "Cabinet is not really the right word. It's more about taking charge of a particular issue and moving ahead with it."

It strikes me that this is a remarkably good idea, and one whose time is overdue. Having subject-matter experts on Council who can evaluate administration proposals and push initiatives is an important way to ensure that control over the city's operations and direction isn't entirely taken by administration.

But what, I wonder, does Jim Lightbody think?