Vancouver City Council

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: December 17, 2003
Author: J. Rogers

Local: 7626
RTS: 03877

CC File No. 3253/1254

Meeting Date: January 13, 2004

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: City Manager

SUBJECT: Authority to Travel to Bangkok for the Federal of Canadian Municipalities - Municipal Partnership Program:

January 29, 2004 to February 11, 2004

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council authorize travel outside of North America for a delegation to participate in Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Municipal Partnership Program Confirmation Mission. The delegation will include Councillor Tim Stevenson; Judy Rogers, City Manager; Wendy Au, Community Project Manger & Partnership Program Co-ordinator; Donald MacPherson, Drug Policy Co-ordinator and Mitch Romanchook, Manager of Staff and Organization Development. FCM will cover all costs related to travel and accommodation.

CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

Current City Business Travel Policy, approved July 31, 1992, requires Council's approval for travel outside North America.

PURPOSE

This reports requests Council approval for a City of Vancouver delegation to travel to Bangkok, Thailand on January 29, 2004, as part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Municipal Partnerships Program (MPP).

BACKGROUND

The FCM's Municipal Partnerships Program is a human resources development program that links Canadian municipalities with local governments in developing countries. The program provides opportunities for municipal administrators, technicians and professionals to learn from international municipal development, increase their capacity to deal with common municipal development issues by sharing experiences, working together, and applying their knowledge in practical situations. The partnerships usually focus on issues of municipal management or governance, and comprise a series of exchanges between staff, council members and community representatives from both municipalities. By sharing expertise, technology and knowledge, partners support processes to help communities find ways of involving the public in decision-making and help build the capacity of local governments to provide improved services.

Together, the partner municipalities agree to implement a two-year Capacity Development Project that addresses municipal capacity building issues in one key area of co-operation. Canadian expertise is provided strategically to complement local expertise.

In June 2001, FCM submitted a request to the City of Vancouver to participate in the Municipal Partnerships Program in collaboration with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in Thailand. In July 2001, staff submitted a report to council requesting endorsement and approval for the City's participation. Council's approval was granted and thus the partnership program development began formally.

DISCUSSION

The Partnership Program

FCM proposed the partnership between the two municipalities given our mutual interest, work and expertise in the field of drug abuse and related social problems. The BMA was interested in the partnership as a way of learning the City of Vancouver's "best practices" on how to address drug abuse, addiction and related social problems with the intent of applying those learnings strategically toward enhancing existing prevention, treatment and harm reduction program services in Bangkok.

In preparation for a detailed project of co-operation, a diagnostic mission from the City of Vancouver to the City of Bangkok occurred in January 2002. The purpose of this mission was to meet Bangkok's representatives, to learn about the development issues and assess the situation. This was done with the perspective of assisting Bangkok in addressing the issues identified.

Subsequently, a technical mission was held in September 2002 during which time representatives from Bangkok attended Vancouver to witness and learn about Vancouver's unique approach to substance misuse and related social issues. Discussion was held on the content of a co-operative capacity building project to be submitted to FCM.

In September 2003, the Deputy Governor of Bangkok together with senior staff of BMA undertook a second mission to Vancouver. The purpose of this mission was to finalize the project proposal and to secure the commitment of both the BMA and the City of Vancouver to carrying out the project.

During the mission, delegates from the BMA visited projects related to drug treatment, harm reduction, enforcement and community organization. They learned more about the Downtown Eastside Revitalization Program which is an inter-departmental and inter-governmental initiative and the Neighbourhood Integrated Services Team (NIST), an integrated interdepartmental approach to community problem solving, and the Vancouver Agreement, an inter-governmental approach to strategic planning focusing on Social and Economic Development. The BMA delegation was very impressed with what Vancouver is doing and has worked with our staff putting together a project proposal to be submitted to FCM (see Appendix 1 - Project Proposal). The specific purpose of the Integrated, Inter-Governmental Approach to Community Health Improvement Project is to build the internal capacity of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration ( BMA) by improving the inter-governmental and inter-departmental co-ordination and planning between multiple departments and jurisdictions toward the enhancement of service delivery to the residents of two communities within Bangkok. A comprehensive strategy is required involving multiple stakeholders and BMA departments which focuses on community health.

On January 29^th, the Vancouver delegation will be travelling to Bangkok to officially sign a Memorandum of Understanding confirming our partnership in the proposed project. Technical staff will also be holding workshops and community meetings to assist BMA in their community study (see Appendix 2) and setting up an internal inter-departmental structure to work with their community on the proposed project.

Financial Implications

FCM will cover all costs related to the Technical Exchange: travel, accommodation, per diem, etc. The only cost to the City is staff time on the mission and overall co-ordination of the Program at the City (see page 9 of Appendix 1).

CONCLUSION

The City's participation in the FCM Municipal Partnerships Program will provide the opportunity for both Council and staff to explore and learn about different approaches to social development and municipal administration within an international context. Staff will report back to Council on the progress of the Partnership Program with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

LINK TO APPENDICES 1 AND 2

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