Spacing has Julie Yamin reporting from the two-day Toronto Summit conference.
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It’s time for change, and the City of Toronto is all ears for new ideas this week at the Toronto City Summit 2007. Nearly 600 people registered for the event to take part in panel discussions and workshops on various issues affecting Toronto, the goal being to collect the ideas produced and implement some of those ideas in the future.
Among the discussions on yesterday was affordable housing, closing the fiscal imbalance, Toronto’s waterfront revitalization, and culture. Some of the discussions and workshops got a little more heated than others, and a few attendees were spotted biting their lip at times, especially when keywords like Island Airport and the Gardiner popped up.
Despite the long day and less than ideal snowy commute to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, people were in good spirits and ready to share their ideas on “making big things happenâ€. Bob Rae, former Ontario Premier was present, as was David Crombie, former City of Toronto Mayor, Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, , Jack Layton, NDP Leader and many more. As David Pecaut, Chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance told the audience in the opening speech, “This is about rolling up your sleeves and looking forward to where we can go.â€
The day began with Ric Young, E.Y.E. President explaining the importance of timing. He took the crowd back a few years and reminded everyone about smoking in public spaces. He explained that despite smoking being an addictive, and mood-altering habit, change can still happen. Meaning, as addicted as people were to cigarettes, over time people in Ontario got used to smoking outdoors. Young added that if you give people time, they will eventually warm up to ideas like implementing tolls to increase transit ridership, or creating real-cost user fees to reflect consumption.
He also supplied the hundreds of brainstormers with five key-points on making change happen before everyone split into their workshops.
Firstly, he says timing is everything; it is the most crucial part of the idea. He followed that by saying the next step is “somebody has to make an extraordinary leap of imagination.” You need to take charge of the idea and develop it. If no one puts themselves out there and takes a risk in Toronto, we will never get anywhere and the ideas brainstormed at the 2007 Summit will get lost. Step three involves surrounding the idea with people dedicated to it. He says everyone needs to “breathe together with the same spirit. Put together a fleet of dedicated people together on one developed idea, change will happen and good things will come of it. And lastly, the most important step is early adoption. The public need to “take a chance on change.†He repeated the same statement using different words each time, but the message was the same: if you get people to hop on the bandwagon, eventually you will create enough momentum for change to occur.
After Young’s speech, guests attended one of three morning workshops:
Toronto’s Cultural Renaissance: with Helen Burstyn, Chair of Trillium Foundation; Sara Diamond, President of Ontario College of Art and Design; Meric Gertler, Co-Director of PROGRIS, Munk Centre at University of Toronto; Catherine Hernandez, Writer and Theatre Practitioner; Tim Jones, CEO of Toronto Artscape.
A Decent Living For All: Susan Pigott, CEO of St. Christopher House; Deena Ladd, Coordinator of Workers’ Action Centre; Bill MacKinnon, Chairman of KPMG; Hon. Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community Services; and Senator Hugh Segal.
Beyond the Gas Tax: Closing Toronto’s Fiscal Gap: with Hon. Bob Rae; Roger Anderson, Regional Chair of Region of Durham; Joe Berridge, Partner of Urban Strategies; Councillor Shelley Carroll, Chair of City of Toronto’s Budget Committee; Enid Slack, Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance at Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto.
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OTHER ARTICLES:
• City pushes for GST cent [ Toronto Star ]
• Canada’s future depends on cities [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto has met its enemy and its Toronto [ Toronto Star ]
• Miller wants one cent — now! [ CBC.ca ]
5 comments
Tories cut GST 1pc, Ontario (who has constitutional responsibility for municipalities) raises PST 1pc, Toronto gets that 1pc.
Better still, Ontario takes back the 1 cent gas tax and gives 2pc sales tax to Toronto, since sales tax is a better long term bet than gas tax.
I’m sure Miller & co. would take your proposal too, Mark. Anything that is tied to the growth of the economy.
Though maybe “ontario municipalities get that 1c” would be better.
One cent of the gst is NOT a sustainable means of funding. As costs rise in the future, one cent does not rise with it.
The provincial and federal governments must provide stable funding of transit/transportation initiatives for cities, i.e., a fixed percentage, just like in every other civilized city in the world.
It amazes me that they don’t realize that spending money on transit alternatives can reduce costs in other areas (ie, health care, pollution costs, etc).
Well, actually it is rather easy to discourage people from smoking in public. Just rile a smug majority to feel superior to a minority indulging in a smelly distasteful habit, merely by making up some more rules. As this requires virtually no economic investment in infrastructure, bureaucrats love this sort of thing.