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| Subject: Nov. 10, 2003. 01:00 AM | |
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Author: The tide begins to turn — at lastToronto |
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Date Posted: Monday, November 10, 02:32:57am Nov. 10, 2003. 01:00 AM >ADVERTISEMENT< The tide begins to turn — at last CAROL GOAR This week promises to mark Canada's coming of age as an urban nation. By day's end, Toronto will have a mayor-elect capable of leading a new alliance of cosmopolitan, outward-looking municipal politicians. By week's end, Canada will have a national Liberal leader who understands the importance of vibrant, globally competitive cities. In between, Toronto's new mayor will reach out to Premier Dalton McGuinty, assured of a good working relationship, after eight years of obstruction from Queen's Park. A partnership will be forged between City Hall and the Toronto City Summit Alliance, the most creative group of civic champions this community has had in years. Activist mayors across the country — Glen Murray in Winnipeg, Larry Campbell in Vancouver, Dave Bronconnier in Calgary and Gerald Tremblay in Montreal — will welcome a strong new member into the club. None of this means that the problems plaguing Canada's cities, from run-down infrastructure to an antiquated tax system, will be solved quickly or easily. Nor does it mean that there will be enough money for affordable housing, public transit or neighbourhood renewal. But the paralysis is finally over. Ontario no longer has a government that treats municipalities as whiny, disobedient children. Toronto is no longer constrained by a mistake-prone mayor who refuses to share the spotlight with other urban leaders. And Canada will soon bid farewell to a prime minister who never recognized the potential of dynamic city-regions and never thought it was Ottawa's job to help build them. No matter which of the three leading contenders wins Toronto's mayoral race tonight, a new era in urban politics is about to begin. David Miller, the Harvard-educated lawyer who spent nine years on city council, is committed to building a cross-country network of civic leaders with the clout and sophistication to modernize federalism. He has already demonstrated he can work with politicians across the region and play a productive role at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. John Tory, the well-connected corporate executive and political strategist, is prepared to use his contacts and negotiating skills to form partnerships with neighbouring municipalities and the two senior levels of government. He has acted as a bridge-builder between City Hall and Queen's Park in the past. Barbara Hall, the former Toronto mayor who chaired the National Strategy on Community Strategy and Crime Prevention, is an effective consensus builder. She has worked with most of the local MPs and MPPs. Their styles are different, but all have the depth and credibility to make local politics a national priority. Conditions are — or soon will be — right at the federal and provincial levels, too. The newly elected Liberal government at Queen's Park has pledged to provide municipalities with dedicated funding for public transit, get back into building affordable housing, rein in the developer-friendly Ontario Municipal Board and ensure that green space is protected around Ontario's cities. Fiscal pressures may prevent McGuinty from doing as much as he hopes as soon as he wants. But the Premier will make a down payment on his promises. Of equal importance, he will not do what his Tory predecessors did: download expensive obligations on municipal governments; encourage urban sprawl, force school boards to jack up user fees for playing fields and gyms and block community initiatives. Once Martin takes the reins in Ottawa, cities will move up the federal agenda. He has promised to include municipal leaders in national decision-making, allocate a share of federal gas tax revenues to cities and help them rebuild their crumbling infrastructure. The details of the incoming prime minister's urban strategy remain vague. What is clear is that Martin will not take refuge in the narrow constitutional argument that municipal issues are a provincial responsibility. He genuinely believes that the success of Canada's cities is "going to be the linchpin of the kind of country that our children are going to inherit." Many variables will affect the transformation of cities from bit players to rising stars on the national stage: One is the willingness of business leaders, labour organizers, social activists and prominent citizens to stay involved in civic coalitions like the Toronto City Summit Alliance. A second is public engagement. Eighty per cent of Canadians live in urban areas. They have the political muscle to make cities matter, if they choose to exercise it. A third, of course, is money. Unfavourable economic conditions will slow the revitalization of Canada's cities and test the patience of urban advocates. Finally, there is the vision and imagination of the politicians that Canadians elect. It will be a relief to see Canada's biggest city get an energetic, accomplished, forward-looking mayor tonight. It could be the start of a historic shift. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |