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Presentation | 2022

How Has the Pandemic Impacted Global Cities? Some Evidence from London, Paris, and Toronto

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on global cities in particular. Many of the assets of global cities – connectivity, proximity, agglomeration – almost overnight proved also to be vulnerabilities. As cities emerge from the pandemic into the economic recovery phase, their underlying strengths are re-emerging. But cities will need to adapt and adjust to address some of the changes that have resulted from the pandemic, particularly regarding urban inequalities. In this presentation, Professor Mark Kleinman of King’s College London discussed these issues with a particular focus on London UK, but drawing also on comparative evidence.
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Video | 2022

Security Breach: Municipalities and the Cyberattack Threat

On March 1, 2022. a panel of academics and practitioners examined the growing threat of cyberattack to local governments in Canada and other parts of the world. How do municipalities need to adjust process and existing practices? What is the risk? What are the costs of action/inaction? Where do municipalities start to ensure they are protected?
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Video | 2022

Data Dilemmas: Municipalities and Smart-City Technology

On February 16, 2022, a panel of academics and practitioners examined the growing smart city industry and the advancement of data-intensive public infrastructure in Canada. The panel featured Merlin Chatwin, Executive Director of Open North, Cyrus Tehrani, City of Hamilton's Chief Digital Officer, Natasha Tusikov, Assistant Professor at York University, and moderator Zachary Spicer of York University.
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Video | 2022

Municipalities and the Platform Economy: Where Do We Go From Here?

On February 1, 2022, a panel of academics and practitioners looked at the future of the relationship between municipalities and the platform economy. Looking at examples from across the country the panel examined questions including: What trends around the platform economy are lasting, which are short term? What new regulation is needed? Are new taxation models or user fee frameworks needed? The panel included Betsy Donald of Queen's University, Jason Reynar, Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Windsor, David Wachsmuth of McGill University and moderator Zachary Spicer of York University.
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IMFG Paper | 2021

Provincial-Local Equalization in Canada: Time for a Change?

New IMFG and Urban Project paper reviews the current state of provincial-municipal equalization transfers in Canada and suggests ways to improve their design. Arguing that no province provides adequate equalization for municipalities, the authors take a critical look at the mechanics of such a transfer, and how it should ideally operate. Issues that first need to be resolved range from determining how local needs are calculated to ascertaining how municipal fiscal capacity is measured. Slack and Bird conclude with some suggestions for what is needed to devise fair, efficient, and transparent provincial-municipal equalization systems.
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Presentation | 2021

10th Annual IMFG Toronto City Manager’s Address

In this presentation for the tenth annual IMFG City Manager Address, Chris Murray spoke to the urgency of a whole-of-community and whole-of-government approach to tackle the precursors of homelessness before the downstream consequences and costs multiply for all orders of government.
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Video | 2021

10th Annual IMFG Toronto City Manager’s Address

In this video of the 10th Annual IMFG City Manager's Address, Chris Murray spoke to the urgency of a whole-of-community and whole-of-government approach to tackle the precursors of homelessness before the downstream consequences and costs multiply for all orders of government.
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