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Leaders, developers and citizens. Mayors as Leaders. All Canadian cities have weak mayor systems Most Canadian cities have a chief bureaucrat often called city manager The nearest thing to an exception is Montreal where a quasi-cabinet system exists Mayors as symbolic leaders.
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Mayors as Leaders • All Canadian cities have weak mayor systems • Most Canadian cities have a chief bureaucrat often called city manager • The nearest thing to an exception is Montreal where a quasi-cabinet system exists • Mayors as symbolic leaders
Mobilizing Council • Stable coalitions? • Ad hoc alliances?
Sources of Leadership Success • Shared ideals • Electoral collaboration • Moral force of at-large constituency • Popularity across municipality • Appeals to groups who can influence councilors • Support of social and economic elites • Control of committee chairmanships (Toronto)
Sources of Leadership Success (continued) • Influence on Council agenda • Chairing Council (except in Toronto, Montreal or Winnipeg) • “favour for favour” • How important is socio-economic context (e.g. case of Mississauga)
Challenges to effective leadership • Highly divided council with little will to compromise • Highly ideological mayor with little will to broker • Declining personal popularity • Perception that mayor’s support is narrow • Non-cooperative or unsupportive elites • Inability to retain support of committee chairs • Few favours to trade
Developers • History • local improvement taxes • corporate city • Local governments and housing policy • Property development and architectural vision • Rent review and development • Non-housing property
Citizen Diversity and Local Government • Ethnic diversity • Religious diversity • Class diversity • Other diversity