Election ignores cities, panel says (Toronto Star) - The Diigo Meta page

• 03 Oct 08
  

  Yule Heibel

  Critique of Harper's Conservative party for being contemptuous of cities and for trying to start a "culture war" of sorts between the salt-of-the-earth rurals vs those decadent urbanites. Sigh.

  thestar toronto canada cities election stephen_harper infrastructure_funding municipal_funding

  • Cities must be an issue in the federal election and are being ignored to everybody's detriment, a panel of urban experts said yesterday at the University of Toronto.
  • Canadians risk a damaging polarization between conservative rural voters and liberal urban voters similar to the divide between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S., argued Eric Miller, director of the university's Cities Centre.
  • 3 more annotations...

  • • Richard Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at U of T's Rotman School of Management, spoke about dismantling the divisions between urban and rural issues, local and national issues.

      "We need to move across the divide," Florida said, bemoaning the state of U.S. affairs. He said cities shouldn't be isolated from other concerns. "It has to be our obligation in urban areas to lead and help ... to benefit everyone."

    • During questions, one member of the audience raised the spectre of the Canadian Constitution, which delineates the provinces' authority over municipalities.

      "The Constitution is an excuse not to do something," Miller said later, pointing to overlap in areas such as immigration, which is a federal responsibility, yet is an issue for cities, where most immigrants settle.

    • Most of the panel, which included environmental philosopher Ingrid Stefanovic, argued that urban issues were inseparable from national issues – from climate change, transportation strategy and the country's economic health, to immigration and concerns about urban sprawl and the environment.

      Stefanovic, who argued cities and the environment should be viewed as one issue, said: "I think all political parties have to recognize cities are going to be playing an important role – should be playing an important role – in this election."

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