A Bibliography on

Local Government in
British Columbia

Web Edition (c. 1999)

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Table of Contents

1. Local Government in Canada: General
1. General Sources
2. Intergovernmental Relations
3. International Comparisons
2. British Columbia Local Government: General
3. History of Local Government
1. General Canadian Works
2. Works About British Columbia
4. Politics at the Local Level
1. General Canadian Works
2. Works About British Columbia
5. Corporate Structure and Administration in Municipal Government
1. General Canadian Works
2. Works About British Columbia
6. Municipal Law
1. General Canadian Overview
2. Works about British Columbia
7. Local Government Finance
1. General Canadian Works
2. Works About British Columbia
8. Services Provided by Municipal Government
1. General Canadian Works
2. General British Columbia Overview
3. Cultural And Recreational Services
4. Engineering-type Services
5. Protective Services
9. Planning
1. General Canadian Works
2. History of Planning in B.C.
3. Land Use Planning
4. Participation and Development Issues
5. Regional Planning
6. Planning in B.C. - Other Works
10. Local Economic Development
1. General Overviews
2. Works About British Columbia
11. Social Services, Social Planning, and Social Issues at the Local Level
1. Social Services
2. Housing
3. Social Planning
4. Social Issues
12. Single Industry Towns
1. General Canadian Works
2. Works About British Columbia
13. Regional Districts / Metropolitan Government
1. General Canadian Works
2. Works About British Columbia
14. Special Purpose Districts, Boards and Commissions
1. General Overviews of Special Purpose Government in B.C.
2. Education
3. Hospital Districts / Hospital Boards
4. The Islands Trust
5. Water Districts, Irrigation Districts, Improvement Districts
15. Native Self-Government
1. General Canadian Works
2. Works About British Columbia
16. Sources for Further Research
1. Newsletters and Magazines
2. General Sources
3. Government Documents
4. Works on Specific Topics

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Preface to the 1999 Web Edition

This web edition of the bibliography is being published by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs as a service to academics, students and practitioners in the local government sphere. Crossley's original work forms the core of web edition. As of this date (December 1999), the following changes have been made to the original manuscript:

• this preface has been added
• minor editorial changes have been made throughout the text
• a few citations -- for instance, where a newer edition of a listed work exists -- have been updated

No attempt has been made to comprehensively survey works published in the interval since the bibliography was originally published. However, this web edition of the bibliography will be updated from time to time. Gradually, this should allow for inclusion of post-1988 works, although the guidelines for bibliographic content will remain those laid down by Crossley.
 

This web edition of the bibliography introduces two features that should be of assistance to users. One feature is a search utility that ought to assist in locating specific titles or works by particular authors. This utility is designed to search the entire bibliography rather than just a single page (page searches should be done using your browser's Find utility). The other feature is a feedback link that users can employ to send messages about the updates and new publications to the ministry:

Nicola.Marotz@gov.bc.ca
Victoria
December 1999
 

Preface to the 1989 Edition, by Dianne Crossley

The bibliography is selective, rather than comprehensive, and the focus is on academic books and articles rather than on popular works, though a few of the latter have been included when they are either cited in the academic literature or provide coverage of a topic not otherwise available. Major government documents, chiefly ones put out by the provincial government, are included, but this bibliography does not attempt a complete listing of every government document ever put out relating to local government in B.C. Some theses and dissertations have been included, but the listing is not definitive. In general, the focus is on policy-oriented materials rather than such things as technical engineering studies. In addition, the focus is on material of broad and lasting interest; articles about community planning, rather than lists of individual city plans, for example. Finally, the emphasis is on published materials, rather than such things as unpublished consultants' reports, mimeographed conference speeches and the like. Archival materials are not included.
 

The basic format of most sections is to discuss some of the main themes in the general Canadian literature, list a few of the major Canadian sources, and then list sources which focus on B.C., or specific cities in B.C. However, the format varies, depending on the amount and type of material available. The general Canadian sources are usually overviews, or "key" articles, or basic textbooks or works which provide a theoretical perspective. They are included to give the reader a place to start with the general literature, and to help put the B.C. literature into perspective. They are not designed to be a comprehensive guide to the literature. Works which include a limited amount of information on B.C., but are not primarily about B.C., are included in the general sections with the B.C. content noted.
 

In terms of the time period covered, important government documents, such as royal commissions, have been included, whatever their date. Other sources were searched back as far as 1945 (if they went that far back), but in practice, most of the academic literature dates from the 1960s to the present time.
 

The title of this bibliography refers to "local government" because it encompasses more than municipal government, but it is beyond the scope of this bibliography to give complete coverage of education or health policies, even though school boards and hospital boards are forms of local government.
 

I would like to thank the following people for reading over sections of the manuscript and making suggestions about the commentaries and sources:
 

Robert L. Bish, William T. Lane, Patricia Marchak, Patricia Roy, John Schofield, Patrick J. Smith, Paul Tennant, and Brahm Wiesman. In addition, I would like to thank the following people who took time to talk to me (or to write to me) variously about their work, about themes and the issues in the literature, and about useful sources; and on the occasion, gave me copies of materials:
 

Michael Clague, Bryan T. Downes, Charles Forward, Edward M. Gibson, Gerald Hodge, Leta Hodge, Tom Hutton, James C. McDavid, Ian MacPherson, Norman Ruff, Don South, Josie Schofield, Mark Sproule-Jones, Frank Storey, Neil Swainson, Ken Vance, and Brian Wharf.
 

Finally, I would like to thank Warren Magnusson and Neil Swainson for reading over the whole manuscript, Brian Walisser, Gary Paget and Mary Lee for their guidance on the project, Elizabeth Dolan for advice about government documents, Michael Bradley for the word processing, and Don Lindenberg for typesetting and design.
 

The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the people listed above, or of the Ministry.
 

Diane Crossley
December 1988
 

Please send any comments or questions to Nicola.Marotz@gov.bc.ca
 

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