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Toronto City Manager Chris Murray discussed the "elephant in the room" when it comes to municipal government: what kind of city are we leaving behind for future generations?
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Alejandra Reyes, IMFG 2018-2019 Post-Doctoral Fellow, presented in her research seminar, "Housing Access & Urban Governance: Lessons from Mexico’s Recent Experience," on the tension between Mexico's federal housing finance strategies and municipal governance and implementation, the policy shortcomings at different levels, and the implications of a lack of coordination.
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What are the policy issues that matter in the 2018 Ontario municipal election? What goes into covering the city hall press beat? On October 2, 2018, IMFG and School of Cities assembled a panel of journalists who explored how they cover municipal elections, which policy issues matter most, and how to adapt and stay relevant in the changing media landscape.
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Before the last municipal election in 2014, IMFG issued a Perspectives Paper on Toronto’s Fiscal Health (Is Toronto Fiscally Healthy? A Check-up on the City’s Finances by Enid Slack and André Côté). In that paper, we undertook an assessment of the state of the City’s finances in four areas: spending and services; taxes and revenues; debt and savings; and infrastructure.
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Elections are a time to assess what has happened in our community since the last election and ask questions – often uncomfortable questions – about the places we live and the environment we are creating for those who live here. In the lead-up to the 2018 Ontario municipal election, the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance has commissioned a series of short pre-election papers to add to the dialogue and tap into the ideas of some of the GTHA’s most respected leaders. As you read these short papers, you will see that we have covered a wide range of themes – transportation, housing, homelessness, youth, neighbourhoods, Indigenous peoples, mental health, decent work, policing, universities, arts and culture, and regional and local governance.
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In 1998, Metropolitan Toronto and its six lower-tier municipalities – Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, East York, and York – were amalgamated to form the new City of Toronto. The decision to amalgamate was controversial. Proponents argued that streamlining service delivery would yield major cost savings for the city and its residents. Opponents claimed that eliminating Metro’s lower-tier municipalities would diminish the quality of democratic representation.
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Matthew Lesch, IMFG 2017-2018 Post-Doctoral Fellow, explored in his research seminar, "Mind the Funding Gap: Transit Financing in Los Angeles County and Metro Vancouver," a new study examining the experiences of Los Angeles County (2008) and Metro Vancouver (2015) with public transit referenda.
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Joe Berridge, Partner, Urban Strategies; Professor- Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, presented as part of the event Toronto: The Accidental Metropolis on June 20, 2018.
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