IMFG@10: The Past, Present, and Future of City Finance and Governance

On January 26, 2015, the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) marked its tenth anniversary in the presence of an overflow crowd at the Munk School of Global Affairs. IMFG@10: The Past, Present, and Future of City Finance and Governance began with opening remarks from Premier Kathleen Wynne, followed by a panel moderated by IMFG Chair Alan Broadbent that featured Enid Slack (Director, IMFG), Richard Bird (Senior Fellow, IMFG and Professor Emeritus, Rotman School of Management), and Zack Taylor (Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough).

Enid Slack reflected on developments in municipal finance in Canada over the last ten years, what they mean for the fiscal health of cities, and suggested that cities need more revenue tools but could also do better with what they already have. Richard Bird took a global perspective, noting that problems in finance and governance are both universal and complex, but that solutions must be localized. Zack Taylor looked at the future of governance and urban resilience, asking whether local governments were up to the job of anticipating and managing long-term social, economic, and environmental transformations.