The Megacity Saga

Table of ContentsPrologueChapter 1: Citizens Facing a Megacity Giant: Story of the Amalgamation of TorontoChapter 2: Citizens for Local Democracy Speaks OutChapter 3: Within the Belly of a Global Monster: Discourses on Globalization and the StateChapter 4: The Living Sponge of the City: The Politics of Everyday LifeChapter 5: From Constitutionalism to the Rights to the CityChapter 6: Performative Citizenship and Citizens for Local DemocracyIndex Appendix A: Checklist for Local Democracy Appendix B: Civic Priorities Appendix C: Citizens for Local Democracy Values Statement Appendix D: Principles Governing Municipal/Provincial Financial RelationshipsList of Tables, Maps, Cartoons: Table 1: Voter Turnouts 1991-1997 Table 2: November 10, 1997 Electoral Results Mayor Table 3: Provincial Elections, June 3, 1999 Results in the new city and in the GTA, in percent Table 4: Changes in Social Management Table 5: Downtown Toronto Provincial Electoral Results 1987-99Map 1: The Greater Toronto Area Map 2: Median Household Income by Census TractImage 1: Voter Stress Syndrome Image 2: Name Changes PROLOGUEToronto the Good. Toronto the Strong. Toronto the Thriving. Toronto the Polite. Toronto the Safe, the Clean, the Green...I was turning these words over in my mind as we stopped at Tim Hortons near Oshawa, for a last stop before entering the city. I wanted to embrace the city, learn its language, hop on its streetcars, "ride the rocket," as they say over there. And I did it all right, commuting one hour back and forth to suburban York University everyday from my downtown apartment. I was entering the city as a stranger...and a few months later I was marching down Yonge street with thousands of other residents, in the midst of big "No Megacity!" signs. Toronto the Good, Toronto the Strong, Toronto the Thriving...Toronto was shouting! I was used to student demonstrations and street protests in Montreal the Political, Montreal the Sensual, Montreal the Creative. But I did not expect this in Toronto. They say timing is everything. I arrived in the Toronto of the 1990s, the Toronto of massive mobilization, in the aftermath of the sweeping vi