Maytree Conversations

Global cities around the world look to Toronto to understand and learn from our ongoing experiment with diversity.  For instance, in 2008 the Toronto District School Board was held up as a global model for successful social integration and equal opportunities for schools when it was awarded the prestigious international Carl Bertelsmann Prize. The City of Toronto is one of the few international cities of migration that provides information to city residents in 180 languages on services such as recycling, garbage and municipal elections. The Toronto Public Library has successfully turned itself into an institution that not only lends books, but also provides settlement services to its many immigrant visitors.

However, lest we start feeling totally virtuous, we need to remember that Toronto has still a long way to go before claiming success. To do so, it must be open to learning from other cities. While we have much to offer to global cities, we also have much to learn from them.

For the past 18 months we’ve been working with international partners in the UK, New Zealand, the US, Germany and Spain to help cities better connect around their shared issues of urbanization and migration.  Now, there is an organized way for London to learn from Toronto, and for Toronto to learn from Zurich. At Cities of Migration, cities can learn about and share their good ideas in integration. Cities of Migration is helping cities learn from each other and transporting successful ideas from one place to another.

In October, Toronto will go to The Hague to learn from practitioners from far flung cities like Malmo, Madrid and Moscow. We invite you to join us as we listen to and talk with leaders drawn from urban planning, local governments, media, employers and academics in this agenda-packed gathering.

To learn more about the upcoming Cities of Migration conference, visit the conference website.

Torontonians should take the lead in defining the issues that matter to them in the next municipal election.

We’re only into the third month of a long election campaign, with eight months still to go until we go to the polls on October 25th. The top issues for debate are already emerging from the declared mayoral candidates: transit, outsourcing, bike lanes, the city’s budgetary woes, to name a few.

But who is asking Torontonians what matters to them? Affordable housing, transparency at City Hall, housing for the homeless, city streets and parks … these things matter too.  If we fail to raise them, then we run the risk of letting the candidates set the agenda.

The Toronto Star blog is one way to encourage this debate. Other groups, too are reaching out to their constituencies including the Toronto Board of Trade on Vote Toronto 2010 and ChangeCamp, an interesting project to re-engage citizens in the political process.

Maytree is doing its bit by inviting our constituency to define, discuss and share the issues that matter to them. We will be reaching out to many individuals who are reflective of the city’s new demographics to articulate their vision of a new Toronto. Already, some have identified the need for our next Mayor to champion the right of all landed immigrants to vote in local elections (I Vote Toronto). Others have tabled their concerns that there are few opportunities for new voices at City Hall.

Let’s wake up Toronto and make this our election!

(This post first appeared on the Toronto Star blog “Your City, My City“).