Coun. Tim Tierney, the Ottawa city councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrville, was elected president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) on Sunday, June 7, 2026, during the organization's annual conference and trade show in Edmonton. To commemorate what he described as a "15-year-long journey" to the position, Tierney visited a five-star tattoo parlour in Edmonton and got a maple leaf tattoo adorned with Canada's crimson red colours and the letters "FCM" in black ink.
"If you want to hear about dedication, I think that's it," he joked during a phone interview with the Ottawa Citizen on June 7, shortly before delivering his inaugural speech to thousands of delegates at the FCM's annual general meeting.
"Ever since I started with FCM 15 years ago, I knew this was an organization that I believed in and that I wanted to contribute to," Tierney said during his speech on the final day of the four-day conference. "I am honoured to be taking on this role at a defining moment for Canada."
Tierney is the first FCM president from the nation's capital in 84 years. The last Ottawa-based president was Stanley Lewis, who served from 1939 to 1942. Lewis was also Ottawa's second-longest-serving mayor, holding the position from 1936 to 1948.
"The best part of living in Ottawa is that I have direct access to MPs, senators, and cabinet ministers on a regular basis," Tierney said, adding that he felt "humbled and honoured" to be elected.
As president, Tierney outlined three main priorities: infrastructure, community safety, and housing. He emphasized the need for stable, predictable federal funding for municipalities. "As your president, I will devote myself to practical solutions that will make people's lives better," he stated in his speech. "Whether it's testifying at a parliamentary committee, at a reception or in a restaurant, or even seeing them on the street, I'm going to keep raising our priorities."
Tierney also highlighted the importance of what he called "non-sexy" municipal needs, such as sewers. "Let's start digging because we need those sewers in place to be able to build all these homes that the federal government wants to achieve," he said in an interview. "What every municipality wants right now is infrastructure. People want to see those items started now, and to be able to do that we need a system from the federal government."
Tierney's term as FCM president will run until June 2027. The FCM represents the interests of member municipalities on policy and program matters under federal jurisdiction, with a board of directors composed of elected municipal officials from across Canada.
