In 1901, the Union of Canadian Municipalities (UCM) was founded by William Douw Lighthall (also known as W.D. Lighthall) and Oliver Aiken Howland. The union was created as a resistance from municipal mayors to the encroachment of corporations and monopolies on Canadian municipalities. Essentially, the Union sought to protect the rights of municipalities and their constituents from corporate exploitation via unfair corporate advantages or by legislative acts from politicians and other members of parliament who collaborated with corporations. It was also formed to remind utility companies that they could not assume municipal consent for the removal of public infrastructure without consideration of the municipal governments when building their infrastructure. Municipal rights-of-way must be negotiated beforehand.
In addition to resisting corporate encroachment, the union was created as an organization for the cooperation and collaboration of municipalities and mayors. It allowed for unionized action, sharing of resources to cut costs and save money for municipalities, and the ability to exert greater influence on municipal affairs.
In 1937, the UCM and the Dominion Conference of Mayors merged to form the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipalities (CFMM). It was then renamed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in 1976.
William Douw Lighthall (December 27, 1857 – August 3, 1954), also known as W. D. Lighthall, was a Canadian lawyer, historian, novelist, poet, and philosopher and played a significant role in the political and cultural life of Montreal and Canada. W.D. Lighthall grew up in Montreal and attended McGill University, where he received degrees of Bachelor of Arts in 1879, Bachelor of Civil Laws in 1881, Master of Arts in 1883, and, received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1921. He was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1881, and practiced law in Montreal for the next 63 years, from 1881 to 1944. There are several notable activities of his long tenure in Canadian public and political life. In 1900-1903, he served as the mayor of Westmount and co-founded the Union of Canadian Municipalities with Oliver Aiken Howland, the mayor of Toronto. In addition to the Union of Canadian Municipalities, he served as the vice-president of the National Municipal League of America.
W.D. Lighthall was also a known philanthropist. In 1883, he did the legal work pro bono necessary for the incorporation of the Montreal Women's Club and founded the Canadian Association of Returned Soldiers in 1915. He also founded numerous literary associations and published numerous literary works like history, poetry, philosophy, arts, and literature.
He was also a notable McGill figure, having served as Representative Fellow in Arts at McGill University from 1911 to 1913. After David Ross McCord, the founder of the McCord Museum, passed away in 1930, he served as the executor of the McCord Estate and the McCord Museum.
These records of the Union of Canadian Municipalities were compiled and organized by William Douw Lighthall before donated to the McCord Museum.