Darwin Durnie of Alberta Elected President of Canadian Public Works Association

The Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA) announced today that Darwin Durnie, Principal of Stantec Consulting in Red Deer, Alberta, has been elected to a two year term as President. Durnie will lead the organization whose mission is to be the "Voice of Public Works in Canada.” Key issues for CPWA include asset management and sustainability, emergency management, infrastructure policy, water and wastewater management, and transportation.

A CPWA member since its inception in 1986, Durnie has also served as President of the Alberta Public Works Association, and was a member of the inaugural American Public Works Association (APWA) Certification Commission for a two year term. He has been a Director on the CPWA Board of Directors for two years.

Durnie has a diverse background in the public works arena in the public and private sectors, having started with a consulting firm in 1981, and moving to municipal government in the mid-1980’s as Director of Infrastructure in the Town of Drumheller, Alberta. He has experience in the delivery of training for communities in topics ranging from asset management, to the film industry and crisis communications. He has also managed the response to major emergencies such as floods and water contamination events, served as Remote Sites Manager for the 2002 G8 World Leaders summit, and most recently completed an assignment as the Associate Director of Facilities and Sites Preparation for the G8 and G20 World Leaders Summit hosted by Canada in Ontario this year.

The Red Deer Stantec offices covers the North and Central Regions of Alberta where Durnie, as Managing Leader of the Architecture and Buildings Engineering group, is involved in a broad range of projects including buildings, engineering and architecture, water, wastewater, municipal service delivery and asset management.

For more CPWA information or media queries, please contact Laura Bynum at lbynum@apwa.net, or call 202.218.6736.

During the Annual CPWA Luncheon held in conjunction with the APWA Congress and Exhibition, CPWA National Public Works Week Chairman Randy Borsa announced the winners for the 2010 National Public Works Week Awards program.

NPWW Chairman Randy Borsa has announced the winners in four categories:

The City of Richmond, British Columbia excelled in the category for first time entries (any municipality submitting to the awards program for the first time).

Other first time submissions were received from:
1. Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta
2. City of Port Moody, British Columbia
3. City of Burlington, Ontario
4. City of Selkirk, Manitoba
5. City of Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Cote Saint-Luc, Quebec took the top award in the category for small centres (Populations 75,000 and under).

Other small centre submissions were received from:
1. City of Port Moody, British Columbia
2. City of Selkirk, Manitoba
3. Town of Ladysmith, British Columbia
4. City of Moncton, New Brunswick
5. City of Dieppe, New Brunswick

The City of Richmond, British Columbia was named the winner in the medium centre category (Populations 75,001 - 250,000).

Other medium centre submissions were received from:
1. Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta
2. City of Burlington, Ontario
3. City of Victoria, British Columbia
4. City of Richmond, British Columbia
5. City of Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Brampton, Ontario took the top award for the large centre category (Populations 250,001-650,000).

Other large centre submissions were received from:
1. City of Vaughan, Ontario

York Region was named the winner fFor the metro centres: (Populations 650,001 and larger)

Other metro centre submissions were received from:
1. City of Mississauga, Ontario

CPWA's National Public Works Week awards program is an annual event. The criteria for judging the entries included events held, public outreach, creativity, education, staff involvement and recognition, and charity. Chairman Randy Borsa noted that the judging was very difficult, due to the level of effort and creativity shown in the events and public outreach. "Every municipality who celebrated National Public Works Week is a winner!" said Mr. Borsa.

The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario has released a report entitled “Public Infrastructure Underinvestment: The Risk to Canada’s Economic Growth.” The study provides an in depth look at the costs of delayed investment in infrastructure to the Canadian economy.

“This study aims to emphasize the importance of long-term public capital management in terms with which stakeholders can readily identify, leading to an understanding of the risks associated with infrastructure policies. For long-term prosperity, there is a need for an appropriate balance between investment in new infrastructure and the maintenance of existing infrastructure. Following this line of inquiry, the study considers the sensitivity of future wages, corporate profits, and GDP to total infrastructure investment and this balance between new investment and maintenance.”

With the permission of RCCAO, we are providing the following link to this important research: