City Politics In Canada

"City Politics, Canada will both irritate and please, but it should be read—it raises all the important questions about urban governance in Canada." - Caroline Andrew, Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa

City Politics in Canada offers a new perspective on Canadian municipal politics. Its concern is not with the mechanics of government, but with the practice of politics at the local level. Its focus, moreover, is on seven specific political systems at the heart of what are arguably the most important metropolitan areas in Canada. This book marks the beginning of an effort to specify what is distinctive about Canadian politics at the munisipal level, in relation to practice at other levels and in ther countries. The essays that form the core of City Politics in Canada were commissioned from leading authorities on local politics in the citizes concerned: Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Helifax, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. The result is a set of accessible and highly informative essays, each written from a different perspective and based on a diferent approach to the subject, but each contributing to a general portrait of Canadian city politics. Warren Magnusson's introductory essay is itself a sketch for such a portrait. Especially designed for readers who are new to the subject, this essay reviews the development of local government and politics in Canada as a whole. It explains those features of municipal politics that the authors of the case studies have had to take for granted, and it sets the context for comparative analysis. Such analysis is Andrew Sancton's concern in his concluding essay. He bases his observations on the studies in this book, and pays particular attention to the way in which the pattern revealed differs from the American and the British. As he says, Canadian city politics is almost exclusively about boosterism, land development, and the enhancement of property. This is its unifying and distinguishing feature -- a feature that is clarified by the analyses in each chapter of City Politics in Canada.

The federal government and its policies transform Canadian cities in myriad ways. Canada in Cities examines this relationship to better understand the interplay among changing demographics, how local governments and citizens frame their arguments for federal action, and the ways in which the national government uses its power and resources to shape urban Canada. Most studies of local governance in Canada focus on politics and policy within cities. The essays in this collection turn such analysis on its head, by examining federal programs, rather than municipal ones, and observing how they influence local policies and work with regional authorities and civil societies. Through a series of case studies - ranging from federal policy concerning Aboriginal people in cities, to the introduction of the federal gas tax transfer to municipalities, to the impact of Canada's emergency management policies on cities - the contributors provide insights about how federal politics influence the local political arena. Analyzing federal actions in diverse policy fields, the authors uncover meaningful patterns of federal action and outcome in Canadian cities. A timely contribution, Canada in Cities offers a comprehensive study of diverse areas of municipal public policy that have emerged in Canada in recent years.

City Politics in Canada offers a new perspective on Canadian municipal politics. It concerns the practice of politics at the local level. Its focus, moreover, is on seven specific political systems at the heart of what are arguably the most important metropolitan areas in Canada.

This collection offers an in-depth look at municipal voting behaviour during local elections in eight of Canada's largest cities.