Despite the onslaught of midterms and papers, some students managed to make it out to Innis Town Hall last week to hear about corporate globalization’s toll on Toronto.
On November 28, City Hall’s councillor with a conscience, Jack Layton, gave a lecture entitled: “Cities Rising Up: The Political Economy of the First Urban Century.”
Layton asserted that this century is, in fact, “the first century in human history where more than 50 per cent of the world’s population live in urban centres.” The lecture was the latest of the “Memorial Series,” an annual lecture series sponsored by the Harold Innis Research Foundation at Innis College.
In addition to Layton’s current post as city councillor for the Don River Ward, he is also President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and an Adjunct Professor in both the Environmental Studies and Urban Studies Programs at U of T.
According to Innis College Principal Frank Cunningham, the Harold Innis Foundation Lecture Committee chose Layton because they wanted “a dynamic, imaginative, and engaged speaker who would have something to say about cities, especially given the precarious situation of cities in the political and economic setting in Canada today.”
The focus of Layton’s address was how to achieve better cities, something Layton doesn’t think Toronto is doing right now.
According to Layton, the evolving phenomenon of globalization is resulting in a reduction of democracy in municipalities, including Toronto.
“If you reduce democracy, we’re producing fragility in the human ecosystem.”
He reminded his audience that the consolidation of municipal political power since the birth of Toronto’s “Megacity” (which 85 per cent of voters voted against) has resulted in a “huge reduction of engagement of citizenry in local government.”
As an example, he noted that the annual number of debate days afforded to city council has fallen from 200 to 30.
Opportunities per year for public deputations have sharply declined from 1000 to 63. According to Layton, the main individuals who benefit from the reduction of city councils are the growing lobby firms, who now have smaller forums and fewer politicians to solicit.
Layton spoke about contentious issues such as the increased power of multi-national corporations, the environment and the housing crisis in Toronto, in relation to their infringement on local democracy.
Public reaction to Layton’s lecture appeared quite favourable among community members and students alike.
Innis College student Anna Tarakanova liked Layton’s idea of building complex systems of all municipalities.
Kate Zabitz, an Innis College student in the Urban Studies Program, expressed her interest “in the connections Layton made between globalization and municipal politics, connections that we as students are not used to making.”
