IMFG at 20
20 years of IMFG – what a milestone! When the Institute was founded in 2004, cities were asking for a new deal from the federal and provincial governments. They are still asking. Meanwhile, the world has continued to change in ways that affect the ability of cities to both govern effectively and meet rising needs with limited tax sources. Cities are experiencing the impacts of climate change, a rising infrastructure deficit, an increasing need for affordable housing, growing cyber security threats, and other challenges. Some progress has been made but more needs to be done to make cities fiscally sustainable, with governance systems that continue to evolve and an intergovernmental infrastructure to reflect 21st century realities.
On the occasion of IMFG @ 20, several IMFG contributors looked back at their past papers to reflect on what they think now about the issues they wrote about earlier, and how they see the future of those same issues 20 years from now.
Read their essays which cover topics from the financing of infrastructure and housing to intergovernmental relations and municipal-Indigenous relationships.
- Enid Slack: Reflections on Municipal Finance over Two Decades and Thoughts for the Future
- Zack Taylor: Local Governance: Gaps and Opportunities
- Matti Siemiatycki: Resolving Infrastructure Cost Overruns: A Lost Decade
- Gabriel Eidelman: Reflections on Who Does What
- Adam Found: Reflecting Upon the Case for Development Charges
- Alexandra Flynn: From Seeds to Canopies: Indigenous-Municipal Legal and Governance Relationships in Canada