AGM and Keynote Speaker Nov. 18

‘Grey and Blue Skies: Local Government in BC and Beyond’

Mark Nov. 18 on your calendar and join us for morning coffee at the 8th annual general meeting of the advocacy group Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria.

Dr. Kimberly Speers, a frequent media commentator at the national, provincial and local levels, will give the keynote address entitled ‘Grey and Blue Skies: Local Government in BC and Beyond’ at 10 am on Saturday at the Hotel Grand Pacific downtown.

Kim is currently an Associate Teaching Professor and the Graduate Advisor in the School of Public Administration. She teaches courses on public sector governance, strategic planning and implementation, public policy, communication and engagement, managing service delivery, BC politics, research methods, policy analysis, political parties, and food politics. In 2020, she received the Faculty of Human & Social Development Award for Teaching Excellence and Educational Leadership.

Kim is also the Chair of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) Victoria chapter, the Western Regional Rep for IPAC National, and the Secretary of the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA).

She taught with the national local government program at the University of Alberta and taught in the Evaluation Certificate program at the University of Fraser Valley. Prior to her arrival in BC, Kim was an Assistant Professor and the Graduate Chair in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba. 

She completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Alberta and has a MA in Public Administration from Carleton University, a Master of Arts in History from Queen’s University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Waterloo. She is currently taking the Executive Diploma in Municipal Management from the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario. 

She received an Outstanding Faculty Award in 2009 at the University of Manitoba and in 2008, she received a President’s Committee Community Outreach Award.

Kim was also a management consultant with KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Praxis, and IMI Strategics in Alberta prior to moving to Manitoba. She has also worked as a government relations consultant and worked at the federal, provincial, and local levels of government. She also was the Director for Strategy and Policy with the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, Manager of Business Planning and Performance Measurement with Alberta Municipal Affairs and worked for a former Prime Minister to assist him with researching his memoirs. 

She is a frequent media commentator at the national, provincial and local levels and many years ago, she was involved in partisan and student politics. She has been involved in campaign management at the local, provincial, and federal orders of politics.

Her research interests are performance measurement, accountability, change management, project management, animal politics, and strategic planning in government.

Members of the general public are encouraged to attend on Sat., Nov. 18:

• 900-10 am – Registration and Coffee, Hotel Grand Pacific next to the BC Legislature
• 10 am (sharp please) – Keynote Address plus Question and Answer Session
• 11-12 am – Annual General Meeting, Media Award, Chair’s Annual Report, Membership Survey Results, Election of Officers, Treasurer Report, Q and A.