Coronavirus: Message for Our Community

As the April 2020 issue of Municipal World heads to press, we find ourselves charting unknown territory: a global pandemic, and a situation with challenges that most of us have never witnessed before in our lifetime.

Like other organizations, we have taken the necessary step of having the majority of our team members work from their homes in order to mitigate community spread of COVID-19. All of us are actively practicing social distancing, with the goal of protecting the health and safety of everyone. All in-person meetings and business travel have been cancelled, effective immediately.

During this time, however, we remain committed to continue providing our members and partners with a high level of service. We remain available to answer your calls and emails as per usual. We’ll continue to post your job opportunities, and ship books and other products ordered through municipalworld.com. You’ll continue to receive your monthly copy of Municipal World magazine, as well as our publications in digital, print, and audio – as well as the weekly Municipal World Insider.

It has been difficult, but not unexpected, to see the cancellation or postponement of so many upcoming municipal conferences – events we all value as opportunities to learn from and connect with each other. These were difficult decisions that organizations needed to make in order to prioritize the health of Canadians, and we know there will be more difficult decisions ahead. Things are changing daily, and the response to the outbreak is rolling out differently across the country, as appropriate for local circumstances. Our team is therefore working to collect those items most relevant to local governments, including changes related to conferences and events. (You can find these resources available at https://www.municipalworld.com/COVID19). And, if you do have a municipal conference or event that is cancelled or postponed, please let us know and we’ll work to help get the word out.

In the face of all of this, our team believes it’s still important that we continue to include “good news” and “good practices” as part of what we share – so that won’t change. These are still the stories that will predominantly fill our pages. (And, if you’re looking for something beyond the news to listen to, you can check out the MW Shares podcast, available on our website and from your favorite podcast apps. We’ll have our regular weekly episodes uploading, along with some special episodes covering topics related to COVID-19.)

The municipal sector is a strong community, and I am confident that we can support each other during this difficult time. Now, more than ever, we are truly all in this together.

Sincerely,

Susan M. Gardner
CEO and Publisher
Municipal World