An opinion piece by Tomas Hachard, Manager of Programs and Research at U of T’s Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance, published by CBC, discusses the value of better coordination and cooperation between all three levels of government – municipal, provincial and federal.
Infrastructure projects and public transit are just two of the areas that would benefit from improved coordination.
The biggest effect is on infrastructure, and particularly transit, where many cities can’t afford their repair bills, let alone the cost of new construction or needed expansion.
Many of the most visionary ideas for the future of cities are best implemented at a metropolitan scale. Housing and transit challenges, for example, cross municipal borders and affect entire metropolitan regions. Yet in most of Canada, metropolitan regions are made up of several municipalities, and inadequate governance structures exist to allow for effective coordination.
Hachard outlines the challenge cities face “because of the imbalance in intergovernmental relations.” He then discusses how these challenges may be addressed.
He references research detailed his IMFG Perspectives Paper, “It Takes Three: Making Space for Cities in Canadian Federalism.”
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