Earth Sciences Center

Earth Sciences Center in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada by A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt and Company

The following text is by Jack Diamond of the Canadian firm A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt and Company. The accompanying images are a project for the Earth Sciences Center in Waterloo, Ontario.

Unrecognized in the governance structure of Canada, in which only federal and provincial governments hold real power, is the re-emergence of the city as the predominant social and economic unit in the late 20th century.

This is particularly true in Canada, where more than 80% of the population live in urban areas. Canada is as much a country of towns and cities as it is of farms and forests. The present lamentable rush of the federal government to devolve powers to the provinces is not only destructive in terms of Canadian achievements in social equity, but also highly inappropriate in an urbanized society. To extend the powers of the provinces is to maintain the fiction that we are an agrarian society, and ensures rural and ex-urban dominance within provincial governments.

Recent events in Toronto illustrate the result of maintaining and indeed reinforcing such an antediluvian structure. Greater Toronto has a population of about four million people, more than the maritime provinces combined, or Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The GTA produces more than half of Ontario's wealth (with the other cities in the province accounting for much of the remainder). Cities in most other Canadian provinces also hold dominant economic and population positions in their respective regions.

The proposals of the provincial government in relation to the city neither reflect an understanding of urban development now taking place, nor are they appropriate to new and emerging conditions. Never was the metaphor of the goose and the golden egg more apt.

Laissez faire policies and hidden provincial subsidies in regard to urban growth are leading cities into low density forms that are expensive, inefficient and charmless. More compact forms, founded on integrated land use, transportation planning and strategic infrastructure investment, would literally save billions of dollars in more effective hard and soft service arrangements. Such forms would also preserve agricultural and recreation space. Amalgamating a few fire departments is a charade of cost cutting. A much broader vision of the future is necessary. Clearly government at the provincial level is not the place to expect such insight and action.

It would seem far more appropriate, therefore, for powers devolved from the federal level to reside with municipal governments. The federal system has worked well in our Canadian democracy. This structure could apply in a renewed federation of city states, in recognition of the reality of the settlement patterns and economic and social dynamics at the dawn of the 21st Century. In provinces where agrarian interests are relatively important, there could still be a role for a provincial or regional government. To reflect reality such governments should be wards of the cities.

Systems are seldom changed from within. It is unlikely that the provinces would relinquish power voluntarily, no matter how obsolete or irrelevant they became.

Therefore, to review our structure of government and engage Canadians in a discourse concerning a new model of the Canadian federation, a panel of distinguished Canadians, none of whom have held political office, should be instituted.

The objective would be to articulate a new vision of Canada based on new conditions but drawing on our invaluable and unique experiences. As a start the panel could look at a new constellation of units, small enough to be locally responsive, yet coordinated in a federation of common urban interests. Powerful and creative forces would be released, capturing the enormous potentials of an urban society.

The future is here. We need only acknowledge it and plan accordingly for the new millennium.