Events

His Worship Mayor Don Iveson of Edmonton is joined in conversation with Professor Richard Florida on a number of topics and issues related to the Role of Big Cities in Canada. This event is part of the Big City, Big Ideas series, which features global leaders in urban and regional policy.

In an era when all large cities are struggling to maintain balanced budgets and pay for increased services and infrastructure, Is Your City Healthy? is a timely publication that explores the elements of fiscal health, how we measure it, and why it is important.

This presentation focuses on the policy processes involved in implementing the Clean Water Act (2006), and outlined the practical and policy challenges of setting up the Toronto and Region Source Protection Authority with the involvement of municipal and non-municipal stakeholders.

In his first public address since taking office in July, Toronto City Manager Peter Wallace shares his perspectives on the City’s finances, and on the opportunities and challenges to achieving key social, economic, city-building, environmental, and governance objectives.

Cities around the world are increasingly being recognized as engines of national growth, productivity, and resilience. In Australia and the UK, national policies for cities have been at the heart of federal debate and decision-making in recent years. Are there lessons for Canada?

Cost overruns and schedule delays have plagued major infrastructure projects for decades. Every year, unexpected overruns cost governments tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. This event, convened by IMFG and today’s leading infrastructure thinkers and practitioners, explores how to overcome cost overruns on public infrastructure projects.

This presentation looks at how demographic and industrial shifts in recent decades have impacted equity in municipal service delivery across the Metro Detroit region. Could fiscal equalization narrow the gap between Detroit and its outer suburbs? More broadly, can regional governance help restart the Motown engine?

Former Toronto City Manager Joe Pennachetti is joined in conversation with Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio 99.1 FM’s Metro Morning. Mr. Pennachetti reflects on his career in the public service and shares his thoughts on the challenges of policymaking for cities.

In several U.S states, bond approvals are put to a public referendum. This presentation looks at one such case in San Antonio, Texas. What can we learn about the politics of debt and municipal finance tools in North American cities today?

Participatory budgeting, a model derived from the Brazilian experience, gives the public the right to propose, deliberate, and vote on a part of the city budget. Does participatory budgeting actually improve democracy, transparency, and accountability, or is it simply another consultation tool in disguise?