How to get cities out of their constitutional straitjacket
Constitutional change could be done province-by-province, but even short of that, there are tools to keep provinces from overpowering municipalities. by Alexandra Flynn, Nathalie Des Rosiers, Richard Albert Originally posted at Policy Options, June 15, 2021 We need our cities to succeed. They are drivers of the economy. They are the first point of contact for social […]
From the Black Death to the Depression to COVID-19: Using Debt to Overcome the Municipal Fiscal Squeeze
Almos Tassonyi *Originally a C.D. Howe publication posted May 19, 2020 Despite the drumbeat of warnings of an imminent crisis in municipal fiscal ability to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the silence from the provinces has been deafening. British Columbia and Nova Scotia have provided some interim borrowing possibilities and others have […]
Alexandra Flynn and Margot Young: Provinces are partners, not parents, to their cities
Opinion: Some large cities are bigger than provinces, grappling with urgent matters like infrastructure and housing, and are the first and most intimate level of democratic participation By Alexandra Flynn and Margot Young Are provinces like parents and cities their children, or are they partners working together? On March 16, the Supreme Court of Canada heard […]
Constitutional Space for Cities in Europe: the role of the CoE and the EU
Massey Cities Summit Session: Cities & Civic Innovation Gabriella Saputelli Worldwide, globalization and open markets have stimulated competition among territories, reassessed redistribution of resources and changed intergovernmental relationships among levels of governments: the growth of megacities in many countries challenge theories of federalism, and stimulate new studies from a constitutional perspective[1]. Similarly, Europe has seen […]
Detasking the Police to Promote Public Safety
Massey Cities Summit Session: Cities and Policing Akwasi Owusu-Bempah The killing of George Floyd, an African American man, by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin sparked widespread social unrest and has prompted questions about the role and function of the police in society. More specifically, calls to “defund” the police have grown louder across North America […]
Taking up the Gauntlet: Cities as a challenge to federalism theory
Massey Cities Summit Session: Cities and Multilevel Governance Patricia Popelier Constitutional theory and practice are blind to the new ‘century of the city’ (Hirschl 2020). Federalism theory in particular is under attack. Some find it inadequate and in need of re-thinking (Weinstock 2014); others suggest to replace it altogether (Blank 2010; Gussen 2019). We should […]
Against Innovation
Massey Cities Summit Session: Innovation in Cities around the world Richard Schragger What is the relationship between cities and innovation? The words are commonly paired, though in two somewhat different ways. The first pairing suggests an economic relationship. Relatively dense urban environments are said to promote the sharing of information and ideas necessary for invention […]
Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions
Richard Albert Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions is both a roadmap for navigating the intellectual universe of constitutional amendment and a blueprint for building and improving the rules of constitutional change. Drawing from dozens of constitutions in every region of the world, this book blends theory with practice to answer two all-important questions: […]
Reimagining the Canadian Federation through an Urban Lens
GABRIEL EIDELMAN INTRODUCTION The devastating health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19 are most pronounced in Canada’s cities. Two-thirds of all cases and 75 percent of all deaths have occurred in Canada’s 20 largest municipalities.[1] Greater Montreal, Toronto and Calgary alone account for half of all cases and deaths. The pandemic has also laid bare the […]
Cities in National Constitutions: Northern Stagnation, Southern Innovation
Ran Hirschl In contrast with the constitutional silence concerning urban agglomeration and the stalemate with respect to city status in most Global North settings, several countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa have generated new ideas about the constitutional governance of the metropolis and of the urban/rural divide more generally. In this paper, Ran Hirschi […]