Tab for two city managers’ one-week training courses was $21,000

OTTAWA — Two city managers spent a week each in a management boot camp course last year that cost the city almost $21,000, but the city won’t say who they were.

“We can’t give you that information,” said spokeswoman Jocelyne Turner, suggesting that a formal request under access-to-information law might produce it. The Citizen promptly filed that request, though responses cost money and typically take several weeks.

The training contract with the Niagara Institute is one of dozens of small contracts city officials sign without asking for city councillors’ specific permission. These contracts are revealed in a dense report delivered to council each quarter. Councillors ordinarily receive it without asking any questions.

The “institute” is the training arm of the Conference Board of Canada, whose main business is economic and policy research. It’s based at Niagara College in the wine resort town of Niagara-on-the-Lake; Turner said the two Ottawa managers were going to be sent there for their course, but switched to a session offered here instead, which saved some money on accommodation.

The basic fee for the Niagara Institute’s “Leadership Development Program” is $8,855, according to the company’s website. It’s aimed at senior managers who aren’t quite at the tops of their organizations. “(Y)ou will learn to strengthen and refine your leadership fundamentals — communication, self-awareness, influence, and learning agility — for your complex and demanding role as a leader of leaders,” the company promises. Attendees will learn how to “think systemically” and be resilient when things aren’t going well. The fee includes meals, too.

Turner said the city also bought follow-up coaching for the two unnamed managers. Three sessions cost $1,260 for each person.

The Niagara Institute courses are available to the city’s “senior management group,” said its director of human resources Catherine Frederick. That group consists of a couple of dozen managers whose official titles vary but who are generally each in charge of a whole portfolio of city services, such as the general manager of environmental services or the chief of corporate communications.

The city had no contracts with the Niagara Institute in 2011, according to its reports, but spent $54,000 on its programs in 2010.

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: David Reevely