Speech by Judy Sgro, MP
Canadian Institute Of Planners Conference
World Trade & Convention Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Wednesday, July 9th 2003

"Building Communities"

Thank you, David, for that kind introduction. Welcome, good morning, everyone.

It is a privilege and an honour to address you today on a subject that i feel so passionately about and one in which i know the majority of Canadians have an enormous interest. First let me congratulate you on an outstanding conference which offers an exceptional opportunity to discover new ideas and new methods. And I want to thank the CIP for inviting me to participate.

There is no question that organizations such as the CIP are important to the social and professional foundation of this country. When I was asked to address you today, i thought about my previous relationship with planners and how my perceptions have changed since becoming a federal mp and chair of a task force on urban issues. Coming from a municipal background — as a councillor — I relied on you people to give us — city councillors — the direction and the design for our official plans and secondary plans and how our municipality might look in the future. Thinking back to my days on council, I saw you as the experts!

But now that I am an MP, and have seen and heard a great deal about cities (not only in Canada but around the world) — I believe I might have made some different decisions. Now I see a much bigger picture and I guess that is a challenge for all of us who are in the business of "building communities". If we truly want to build successful, sustainable and livable communities, then we must look beyond the norm, think outside of the box and perhaps take some bold steps.

And I see evidence that is where urban issues are taking us today. We have the Smart Growth panels in Ontario, Canada West Foundation is doing some excellent work on the state of western cities and the NRTEE is breaking new ground in its approach to sustainable urban environments. The private sector is also very much involved — the TD bank, Conference Board of Canada and others.

When the Prime Minister first announced the Task Force in May 2001 and asked me to be the chair we never anticipated the impact or the momentum it would produce, nor did we expect the level of interest and the amount of work it would generate. I certainly never imagined I’d be honoured by the Canadian Insitute of Planners as an honourary member!

I was asked to speak today about our findings when we went across the country, a summary of the reports, the response, and what we hope for the future — beyond the reports. The Task Force’s broad mandate was to focus on those areas that strengthen the quality of life in our urban regions with specific emphasis on a variety of issues, such as urban transit, housing, infrastructure, immigration, culture, heritage and the arts, crime and safety, urban Aboriginal people, and environmental issues. As well, we were directed to find ways to increase the economic competitiveness of our cities.

We visited 8 urban centres in the first phase of our mandate: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Montreal, and more recently, in the second phase, I went to Regina, Victoria & Moncton. We met informally with the mayors and members of their councils as well as provincial ministers and officials. It was important to include provincial leaders when we were talking urban regions. We held round tables with community leaders, business people, the voluntary sector, Representatives from national and local organizations, and Many urban experts including members of your organization, architects, and environmentalists.

We heard the pressures that exist in Toronto are much the same as those in Winnipeg, Halifax and Montreal:

• Traffic gridlock seems to be in every large city
• A shortage of affordable housing for new immigrants and others arriving in our major urban centres
• Funding settlement programs for newcomers is an ongoing challenge
• Clean air, safe water and pollution is a major concern
• Most municipalities are constrained by limited funding sources and are unable to pay for new infrastructure and repairs to aging infrastructure
• Cities like ottawa, toronto and calgary have a critical shortage of skilled workers
• Revitalizing the down town core- i know this is important to halifax
• Investing in brownfield remediation as part of urban revitalization
• In some cities, urban aboriginal issues were major problems

As well as those regional issues, there are national trends that impact more in the urban regions. These include demographics such as :

• An increasingly aging population
• Evidence of a widening income gap
• Lowering productivity levels
• And growing cultural diversity in the major cities
• Linked to the reality that urbanization is a 21^st century phenomenon

But we also heard from mayors and Municipal governments who want a voice when decisions are made that affect their communities. They want to be active partners in any urban agenda, and they want stable, reliable long term funding to manage and plan for growth. And ladies and gentlemen, all of us here today understand the significant role that canada’s urban regions play in the health and wealth of this country and how critical they are to our future success.

And that is why you are here at this conference, to bring forth solutions and new ideas. Why the work that you do in partnership with governments and the private sector is part of the job of nation building. With 80% of the population living in urban centres — this is where the majority of Canadians live and work, where business and industry are located, and where the wealth of this country is centred. Clearly, if Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver are doing well, then the rest of canada benefits.

So it is imperative that we find a way to sustain that economic growth by enhancing the quality of life through investments in areas such as

• Social infrastructure,
• Efficient transit systems,
• Sufficient housing, schools, libraries and universities,
• Good health care, and
• Clean air and safe drinking water.

As well as all those services that make our cities great places to live and work.

The interim report — "Canada’s Urban Strategy: a Vision for the 21^st Century" — outlined the government’s investments in the key areas, explained our vision for the future and made 52 recommendations. In our final report: "A Blueprint for Action", we define the urban strategy, the three priority areas and set the stage for implementation. We see the urban strategy bringing together under one umbrella, The elements that have the potential to make our cities more competitive, sustainable and ensure a quality of life that will be the foundation for future growth and investment.

We expressed our hopes for the future in a vision statement. Let me read that to you now:

"We see innovative urban regions competing successfully on a global scale, ensuring the highest quality of life for our citizens, promoting sustainable economic growth, and attaining social peace across all communities. Canada’s urban centres play a vital and leading role in the nation’s economic, social, environmental and cultural development and must be internationally recognized as centres of excellence".

1. We made several key recommendations within the framework of an urban strategy. A minister responsible for infrastructure who would develop and implement the strategy, and who would:

As well, we recommended three major areas of government investment:

1. A national transit/transportation program
2. A national affordable housing program
3. A long term sustainable infrastructure program

Canada is the only country in the G7 without a national transportation strategy.

An urban strategy offers a new approach to the way we, the government, do business with urban Canada. It is built on the concept of greater consultation, collaboration and coordination of policies, program planning and current funding.

I am pleased to tell you that our ideas and recommendations have been very well received. There is strong support across the country for an urban strategy. We sense a momentum that is urban focused and there is a continuous national dialogue taking place. As a matter of fact, I will be in Edmonton in September at an important summit on urban sustainability, hosted by the cities of Edmonton and Calgary, sponsored by the Alberta government and the Department of Western Economic Diversification. I encourage members to come to Edmonton and participate.

I am delighted that this conference is part of that continuing debate, and the Prime Minister warmly received both reports & has listened and taken notice. Given that 22 of our recommendations have been adopted as government policy is testament to the Prime Minister’s and this government’s commitment to an urban agenda.

I’ll just mention a few of the main ones:

• 10-year infrastructure program – including transit
• More money for affordable housing,
  extending the rrap and scpi programs
• $3 billion for environmental priorities-
  clean up federal contaminated sites
  improve air quality
  manage toxic substances
• Increased funding for settlement programs for newcomers
  changes to allow more skilled workers to come to canada in areas where there are shortages
• Support for sustainable development in renewable energy
  and transportation
• And increased funding for programs for urban aboriginal people.

Many people ask me what is the next step? Where do we go from here? Certainly, as I said, there is a clear indication that the urban agenda is a priority for the government. And the support across the country for our recommendations is a strong signal that there needs to be change. Indeed, we cannot afford to ignore the signs. Municipalities deserve it. Urban Canadians expect it. And as political leaders — we must demand it.

But we need to go beyond talk of an urban agenda and think about the bigger picture of a national urban strategy that would include ideas on:

• Forging a new deal with the cities
• Reviewing the federal role
• How do we address the governance /constitution issue
• And looking at how cities are financed

There are a number of ways we, as a federal government could assist. Those possibilities include:

• Sharing of revenues through the excise fuel tax or other fiscal tools
• By tax points or tax room
• Forgiving 100% of municipal GST (currently 57% is forgiven)
• Or by granting the municipalities taxing powers-such as hotel tax, or separate gas tax,
• Another example: city charters as in BC

The task force is also suggesting that the federal government host a national urban summit to bring all the players to the table, to discuss these ideas and reach consensus with provinces and municipalities on the options.

One idea that I’d like to see implemented is performance measures with conditions for infrastructure funding according to set federal objectives. Too often we hand over the money when few canadians know exactly what we are doing or where we are spending it. To ensure the funds are strategically invested, I’d like see strict guidelines that show the projects are in accordance with federal environmental, social, fiscal and economic targets.

And one of your members — University of Ottawa geography professor Barry Wellar —has taken this a step further by designing an Urban Sustainability Index that would measure urban development in key areas of housing, transit, environment, land use, finance, & the economy. The index would offer opportunities and challenges for planners to reach targets set by the federal government and would eliminate haphazard planning. It would give a single, comprehensive standard measure of a city’s characteristics and performance — in other words measuring Canada’s urban strategy — city by city.

This is truly a far reaching concept and an exercise that would no doubt bring some degree of anxiety for municipal governments and planners! And yet — it is these kind of ideas that we should be looking at. And I am looking at you as planners to hear your ideas and to know what you think of this whole question on urban capacity, design and character. How can you make the urban agenda relevant to the work that we do in the house and in government? Planners are critical to the job of designing and planning for growth. Urban sprawl was certainly something that we heard about during our consultations.

Growth as a success is what we see in toronto but we should ask ourselves — will Toronto be Canada’s first ‘alpha’ city in 2020 and continue to rank #1 in North America on the World Winning Cities Project? [Toronto is the only Canadian city classed as a beta city] How can we ensure Montreal or Vancouver qualify as world cities on the global roster? [right now only montreal is classed as a gamma city ( 3^rd tier) ]

That is the challenge I throw out for you. We need your expertise to make our cities the best that they can be — by:

• Managing growth and urban sprawl
• Siting of roads and transit systems
• Building new housing developments
• Designing affordable housing close to schools, transit, shops and services.
• Planning recreation areas
• How to integrate and upgrade older neighbourhoods
• And ways of revitalizing the down town core

In closing — I see exciting opportunities for everyone involved in building communities. This is a collective responsibility when together we can move this agenda forward. Our vision is what all Canadians want, what you want and with the political will and the right timing — we can make it happen. Together we can build communities in a Canada that we can be proud of today, for our future and for the future of our children and grandchildren. I hope this conference will provide you with the foundation for new and innovative ideas.

Thank you for listening. Enjoy the rest of the conference. I will be pleased to answer any questions.