Bold Ideas, Bold Action: Next Steps for the GTHA

Municipalities across the GTHA face many shared challenges. Ahead of last year’s municipal elections, the Institute on Municipal Governance and Finance (IMFG) published a series of essays from some of the GTHA’s most respected leaders offering bold ideas to push the region forward on key issues. On February 28, four of these leaders discussed their bold ideas in the context of a political landscape that includes newly elected mayors, councillors, and a provincial government set to table its first budget.

The panel included:

• Daniele Zanotti discussing how strong neighbourhoods are essential to the GTHA’s future.
• Marcy Burchfield speaking on how regional co-operation holds the key to regional prosperity.
• Kofi Hope talking about the importance of youth equity for the future of the GTHA.
• Tim Jones speaking on why the suburbs are key to the GTHA’s cultural vitality.

Alexandra Flynn, Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Allard School of Law and a Fellow at IMFG, moderated a discussion with the panelists on how to execute their bold ideas, how to mediate between competing regional and local priorities, and how to ensure that all residents in the GTHA benefit from the region’s growth and prosperity.

View video of the event

Speakers

Daniele Zanotti is President and CEO of United Way Greater Toronto. He led the historic merger between United Ways in Toronto and York Region, and more recently, with United Way Peel Region—achieving a scaled, regional approach to drive more local impact.

Marcy Burchfield is Vice-President of the Economic Blueprint Institute at the Toronto Region Board of Trade. Marcy has spoken and written extensively on Ontario’s regional planning framework and developed innovative methods to measure, monitor, and understand how cities change over time.

Kofi Hope is a change maker. He is a Rhodes Scholar and has a Doctorate in Politics from Oxford University. Currently, he is Senior Policy Advisor at the Wellesley Institute, a strategic consultant to the Vice President HR/Equity at the University of Toronto, and the Bousfield Visiting Scholar at U of T’s School of Geography and Urban Planning. In 2017 he was the winner of the Jane Jacobs Prize and in 2018 he was named as A Rising Star by Toronto Life in their Power List.

Tim Jones, CEO of Artscape, is a city-builder, social entrepreneur, and change agent who works at the intersection of arts and culture, urban development, community activism, philanthropy, and public policy. Under his direction since 1998, Artscape has grown from a Toronto-based artist studio provider to a globally recognized leader in creative placemaking.

Moderator

Alexandra Flynn is an Assistant Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at The University of British Columbia, where she specializes in municipal law and governance and teaches interactive, practice-based courses in legal research, municipal and planning law, and administrative law. Prior to joining UBC, Alex was an Assistant Professor in the City Studies program at the University of Toronto (Scarborough), where she taught and researched in the areas of urban governance, property, and local government law. Alex is a Fellow at IMFG.