Foto: Stephen Edwards, CC BY-SA 2.5. The Trans-Canada highway in Chilliwack, BC

Canada’s role in international distribution networks for the movement of goods and peoples require particular attention from the federal government in developing, expanding and maintaining transportation infrastructure across the country. This is especially the case for Canada’s gateway cities – or cities that are the first point of entry into Canada – such as Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. What are the connections between the decisions made at the federal level and local concerns? By looking at the various stakeholders involved in these discussions in all four locales, I explore the ways in which urban democracy processes are more than often bypassed for transportation infrastructure projects involving international trade considerations. While all four city-regions reveal a distinct political configuration integrating local actors and their concerns to transportation infrastructure projects, they all demonstrate that the Canadian federation is structured in a way that limit the utilisation of urban democracy processes for planning and implementing such transportation infrastructure projects. In this presentation, I will discuss the federal approach to transportation infrastructure projects, the ways in which they intersect with local concerns in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, and present some of the most glaring cases where urban democracy processes have been bypassed.

Suggested readings:

Canadian Global Cities Council. 2019. Infrastructure Policy Playbook. 

Gabriel Eildelman. 2020. Reimagining the Canadian Federation through an Urban Lens. Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation. Institute for Research on Public Policy. 

Impact Agency Assessment of Canada. 2020. Milton Logistics Hub Project Environmental Assessment Report. Ottawa, please read only the summary (pp. i-x).