University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2018-08-22 Navigating Turbulent Waters: The Politics of Municipal Water Governance in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Hamilton Klain, John Andrew Klain, J. A. (2018). Navigating Turbulent Waters: The Politics of Municipal Water Governance in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Hamilton (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32838 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/107658 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Navigating Turbulent Waters: The Politics of Municipal Water Governance in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Hamilton by John Andrew Klain A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN POLITICAL SCIENCE CALGARY, ALBERTA AUGUST, 2018 © John Andrew Klain 2018 Abstract In Canada, water utilities are traditionally managed by municipal governments. Declining financial support from senior levels of government, public service reforms, and provincial policy interests in the 1990s caused Canadian municipalities to consider reforming their local water utilities. The current water governance literature argues that local financial circumstances condition the types of public policy decisions and governance reforms municipalities make, making these decisions contextual. However, amid similar political and economic circumstances, municipal governments in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Hamilton chose distinctly different governance models. Calgary considered privatizing its water utility, later reorganizing its department as a business unit. Edmonton considered privatization, only to corporatize its water utility alongside its electric utility. In Toronto, the city considered a municipal corporation, and a quasi-independent service board, only to keep its water utility a separate business unit. Hamilton signed a private contract, only to recreate a municipal water department after the contract ended. I argue that local dynamics conditions the decision-making process in municipalities, where politicians must balance the ideas and interests of local actors when making policy decisions. This thesis then, examines the decision-making process in each city between 1990 and 2005, demonstrating that water reform, and municipal public policy more broadly, is both contentious and politically driven. ii Acknowledgements In elementary school the teachers always asked us what we were thankful for leading up to Thanksgiving weekend. As one might expect of elementary students, most mentioned their mother, father, brothers, sisters, and sometimes the family pet. Reflecting on my experience as a graduate student, my list stretches farther than the average elementary student. Like my grade three peers, I am grateful for the support from my mother, father and step- mother as a student; undergraduate and graduate. Their support stretches far and wide, from financial, to proof-reading papers, to listening to me complain about the trials of graduate studies. But perhaps their greatest contribution is feeding me, seriously, feeding a student-athlete is no small feat. Ask most war veterans about their strongest relationships and most will tell you they were forged with comrades in war. While graduate work can not be compared to the trials of warfare, long hours locked away in a small graduate office has forged some of my strongest friendships. Only a few people reading this will know John (Bernardino) Santos, otherwise known as “Data Scientist” John. What John lacks in height, too short to ride most amusement park rides, he makes up for with his kindness and generosity. John, thank you for working me through the simplest excel graphs and SPSS outputs, the home cooked food and guided hikes. In chemistry, opposites attract; it is also how I would describe my relationship with Connor Molineaux. Connor, your eagerness to learn and passion for political science is inspiring. Thank you for pushing me intellectually, always asking hard questions and never shying away from a good conversation. And for the record, while Connor’s acknowledgments will recall a different story about our friendship, he is the department’s curmudgeon, not me. iii Stephen Hawking once said “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet”; you can likely find Jessica Weber doing this amidst a field of flowers in the mountains. Next to my parents, Jessica has listened to me rant, complain and sigh on more than one occasion. Thank you for entertaining my theories about human evolution, the dynamics of human relationships and being my C-train companion. To my friends John (Bernardino) Santos, Connor Molineaux and Jessica Weber, thank you for everything. Having read through completed theses in pursuit of finishing my own, I noticed a trend throughout acknowledgment sections. Most students started their acknowledgments with “No written work is fully the product of the author”. While trying to avoid using this line, it became clear there was no other way to say it; “No written work is fully the product of the author.” To my supervisor Jack Lucas, thank you for taking me on as your first graduate student. Jack’s enthusiasm for learning, pursuit of student development and work ethic is inspiring. I have learned and accomplished more than I could have ever imagined under his supervision. Thank you for not only being a great supervisor, but a better friend. To those interviewees that took the time to be interrogated by a master’s student, thank you. To Jennifer, thanks for taking the time to make sense of my academic jargon, and lend a second pair of eyes to the editing process. To my former supervisor, Mario Levesque, thank you for not only pushing me to pursue graduate work, but investing time in me as an academic and a person. If you’re still reading, I would like to thank the department for academic and financial support. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... v Chapter 1: The Importance of Municipal Water Governance in Canada .............................. 1 The Importance of Water Governance ................................................................................... 5 Municipal Water Reform in Canada ....................................................................................... 7 Thesis Outline ............................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 2: Understanding Water Governance In Canada: Inadequate Explanations of Municipal Water Reform ........................................................................................................... 12 Understanding Water Governance ........................................................................................ 13 What Causes Municipal Water Reform? .............................................................................. 17 Changing Course: Local Dynamics and Water Reform ...................................................... 19 Institutional Variation .......................................................................................................... 20 Actors’ Ideas ......................................................................................................................... 22 Actors’ Interests .................................................................................................................... 23 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 26 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 29 Chapter 3: Setting the Stage for Municipal Water Reform: Alberta and Ontario in the 1990s ............................................................................................................................................. 30 Alberta ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Ontario ..................................................................................................................................... 38 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 44 Chapter 4: Alberta ...................................................................................................................... 46 Calgary: Business as Usual ..................................................................................................... 48 Edmonton: A Home-grown