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Municipalities in Canada have an array of servicing options available to them when producing or delivering local services, such as water, public transit, and waste collection, including in-house provision or privatization. However, services may also be contracted or jointly-delivered with neighbouring municipalities – a practice some local governments are increasingly gravitating towards. Delivery by Design sheds light on this practice in Canadian local government by examining three crucial questions: Why do municipalities cooperate? What is being shared or contracted with other governments? And what leads to successful or unsuccessful relationships between municipalities? The book finds that Canadian municipalities are cooperating fairly regularly, but are doing so in a small number of policy areas, mainly emergency and administrative services. Zachary Spicer examines these types of relationships, explaining how they will be crucial in the future as local services are increasingly shared or jointly delivered by municipal governments. Relying on extensive data and document collection, surveys, and a series of primary interviews with local decision-makers, Delivery by Design explores the nature of interlocal collaboration in Canada, mapping out a relatively understudied process in local governance.

City-county separation is a form of governance in which rural and urban areas are formally separated. Although these areas were once thought to be distinct because of their diverse sets of values, economies, labour trends, and ways of life, more recently, and in response to regional growth, governments have begun to design institutions that link the city to surrounding rural governments in order to provide greater policy and service continuity to the region. Detailing the development of municipal institutions, the original logic behind the city-county separation, and the eventual shift in institutional and municipal organization, The Boundary Bargain demonstrates that urban and rural areas have always had a reciprocal relationship and that both play an important role in the strength of the national economy and the broader local community. Focusing on three case studies of separated cities and their counties that still retain strict city-county separation – London, Guelph, and Barrie – Zachary Spicer reveals how this policy works, what problems it poses, and examines the best practices for addressing growth, development, and sprawl from a regional perspective. Highlighting the dangers of municipal institutions that are too rigid to modernize, The Boundary Bargain provides a strong historical account of city-county separation that will guide governments from within and beyond Ontario on how to better manage growth.

Voting Online investigates the effects of cyber elections by looking at how adoption of online voting affects attitudes towards democracy, who uses and who benefits from the voting mode, the extent to which candidates support it, and what factors election administrators consider when deciding to adopt it. The authors provide important lessons for all interested in the health of democratic societies.

Epithelial tissues mediate absorptive and secretory ion transport processes to maintain physiological equilibrium of ions and fluid. These processes are mediated in part by ion transport proteins expressed throughout the mammalian gastrointestinal tract and the renal nephron. Ion transporters regulate, either directly or indirectly, blood and extracellular fluid volume and composition, stomach acid secretion, digestion and nutrient absorption, and excretion of metabolic by-products. Many of the genes encoding ion transporters have been identified and characterized at the molecular level; however, the specific contribution of each transporter to epithelial ion transport during normal and pathophysiological states is incompletely understood. The Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter isoform 1 (NKCC1) mediates the uptake of Na+, K+, and Cl- from extracellular fluid. In secretory epithelial tissues, this uptake is important for the secretion of K+ or Cl- enriched fluid. To identify the specific contribution that NKCC1 makes to epithelial secretion, I have generated and analyzed a recombinant mouse line with a targeted disruption of the NKCC1 gene. This study tests the hypothesis that NKCC1 is required for proper epithelial Cl- and K+ secretion, and that altered Na+-K+-Cl- uptake at the basolateral membrane will perturb fluid secretion. My results demonstrate the critical role of NKCC1 in hearing and refutes a previous hypothesis that it is necessary for gastric acid secretion. An unexpected finding was that NKCC1 plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure. Na+/H+ exchanger isoform 3 (NHE3) mediates the absorption of Na+ and HCO3- from, and secretion of H+ into, the lumen of the small intestine and proximal tubule of the kidney. Mice lacking NHE3 exhibit a mild phenotype associated with perturbations in Na+-fluid volume homeostasis and elevated serum aldosterone. I have tested the hypothesis that compensation for these perturbations involves transcriptional remodeling of the renal ion transport system. Data obtained from gene expression profiling experiments of kidney mRNA, through the use of cDNA microarray technology and Northern blot analysis, suggests that the kidney responds to perturbations in Na+-fluid volume homeostasis largely through post-transcriptional regulation of ion transport and renal hemodynamics, and not through transcriptional regulation of ion transporters.

The introduction of new digital platforms into community life - including "smart-city" technologies and firms like Uber and Airbnb - has raised the service expectations of residents, created new challenges relating to data governance and privacy, and introduced cyberthreats into the daily business of municipal administration. To understand these emerging threats and opportunities, the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) convened a series of three panels in the winter and spring of 2022 focusing on the platform economy, smart city technology, and cyberattacks. This paper summarizes findings from the panel discussions as well as the relevant literature, providing direction for municipal leaders hoping to chart a course for their organizations through this uncertain landscape.