Canada’s Urban Competitiveness Agenda
With the assistance of the research team at the Martin Prosperity Institute, Richard Florida and I wrote a report on the competing development models that characterize the Canadian economy. One … Continue reading
Main Street LRT will help preserve Brampton’s heritage, not destroy it
I grew up in Brampton not far from Main Street where the new LRT is proposed to be built. As the fifth generation of my family to live in Brampton … Continue reading
Migration and increasing inequality
Balancing economic growth between regions can be tricky business. Local trajectories have a great deal to do with momentum and thus can be difficult to alter. Inter-regional migration is a dynamic that tends to … Continue reading
Education and inequality between Canadian cities
The widely accepted growth model for developed countries in the 21st century is about achieving advantage based on creativity, innovation and knowledge. In a global economic system cost cannot be the main … Continue reading
Where to draw the line on inequality?
Inequality has re-emerged in the public discourse after a long hiatus. Massive structural changes in the economy to a more global knowledge-based system has disrupted previous sources of prosperity and … Continue reading
ANALYSIS – Ontario’s Urban Election
If “all politics are local” and “its about the economy, stupid”, then elections are about economic geography. The Ontario election last week was no exception. The Liberal Party won a … Continue reading
OPINION – Ontario’s Urban Election
Ontario is a province divided. Yesterday’s election underscores very real and troubling schisms between local communities. While much of the election narrative focused on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and … Continue reading
The University and the City
On May 29, 2014 Meric Gertler, the President of the University of Toronto, gave a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade outlining his vision for how the relationship between the … Continue reading
OPINION – No Life on MaRS?
News broke today about a possible scandal involving the Liberal Government and the MaRS Discovery District, a science and technology incubator located in Toronto. The story (being put forth by the Conservative Party) is … Continue reading
Local IDEAs 
Is the Toronto area ready for renewed regional governance?
Below is an except from an op-ed I wrote for the Toronto Star’s special edition on innovation. A recent article in The New York Times praised the former Metro … Continue reading →