School of Public Policy and Governance

U of T master’s course teaches public policy students to think like community activists

Romi Levine — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 19:47:12 +0000

U of T master’s course teaches public policy students to think like community activists

Romi Levine Tue, 02/13/2018 - 14:47

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Students in Gabriel Eidelman and Jo Flatt's course visit the Evergreen Brick Works to meet with community activists and advocates (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Topic

City & Culture

Alumni

Cities

Graduate Students

School of Public Policy and Governance

��Ƶ’s School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG) is well-known for training the next generation of government workers, but a new master’s course offered by the school is teaching students about how to create change from the outside.

Co-taught by Gabriel Eidelman, an assistant professor at SPPG, and Jo Flatt, a U of T alumna and senior manager, policy and partnerships at Evergreen, the course is centred around the role non-governmental organizations play in shaping public policy.

Instead of keeping students in the classroom, Eidelman and Flatt are taking them to the places where change is actually happening.

“Central to the course is this notion of community, and we’re trying to explore what that means but also see it for ourselves when we can,” says Eidelman.

During the six-week intensive course, students learned about empathy through virtual reality at the House of VR, took a field trip to Hamilton to see how civic groups are designing inclusive community consultations, and walked through Toronto alleyways to explore the future of laneway homes – all while contributing to a blog about their experiences.

“For those of us who learn by doing, this was a really impactful way of exploring new concepts and I found myself far more engaged than I would be in a traditional classroom setting,” says master’s student Harpreet Sahota. “There is something really valuable about being in the physical space where the kind of impact that we're talking about is actually happening. It made everything far more tangible.”

For their final assignment, the students are looking at three municipal issues: urban flooding, food insecurity and high school dropout rates.

Last week, students met with Toronto activists and advocates at Evergreen Brick Works where they were given practical advice and guidance on how to tackle their assigned issue.

Master's students Terhas Ghebretecle and Alexandra Izgerean work on their assignment at Evergreen Brick Works (photo by Romi Levine)

“The mentorship is very cool. Hearing from people working in the field was amazing and actually having some of their work as case studies that we can learn from was very insightful,” says Sasha Gronsdahl.

Sahota’s group focused on the barriers preventing people from accessing food banks. They spoke with Samiya Abdi, an expert in community engagement who currently works on Ontario health care initiatives.

“[Abdi] helped identify some ways that we could approach partnerships with other organizations in ways that acknowledge shared interests and values,” says Sahota. “I think this really emphasized the distinction between co-operating and collaborating.”

Staff at Evergreen were also invited to sit in on classes in order to gain a new perspective on the work they were already doing. Evergreen is a non-profit organization that promotes healthy and sustainable cities.

“We don't have access to the student audience,” says Flatt. “This was something U of T brought to the table in terms of a cohort of interesting students.”

Flatt says the course should also be replicated for people who are already working in the public service.

“Learning about how the outside understands you is really important to inform how your work should be done,” she says.

Ipsos donates trove of data to U of T's Munk School of Global Affairs

rasbachn — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Ipsos donates trove of data to U of T's Munk School of Global Affairs

rasbachn Fri, 09/29/2017 - 00:00

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Didier Truchot, chairman and CEO of Ipsos: "By sharing our data, we’re continuing a tradition of supporting scholar understanding and student education for the next wave of global research experts”

Mark Sedore

Author legacy

Mark Sedore

Topic

Our Community

Faculty of Arts & Science

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

School of Public Policy and Governance

Subheadline

Gift of almost seven years of Global Advisor Survey valued at $8.2 million

University of Toronto President Meric Gertler and Didier Truchot, chairman and CEO of Ipsos, have announced an unprecedented gift of global opinion data that will help U of T researchers better understand the world.

The gift, announced at a recent event at U of T's Munk School of Global Affairs, comprises unique survey data files from the Ipso Global Advisor Survey, from 2008 to 2015. It includes almost seven years' worth of data from the survey, which interviews 18,000 people around the world every month on the most important issues of the day. The topics range from immigration to religion to political leadership.

The survey data will help researchers and analysts understand the interplay between public opinion and political action, both at the domestic and international level. While the data will be a resource to the entire U of T research community, it will have particular significance to those at the Munk School.

This gift-in-kind has been independently valued at $8.2 million.

“The ��Ƶ is extremely grateful to receive this data,” President Gertler said. “The Munk School is one of the world’s truly great schools of global affairs, and its many renowned scholars are ideally positioned to make the most of this generous gift. Speaking as a social scientist myself, I can attest to the value of such data in enabling us to make sense of the world today, and to situate Canada’s place in it. In our increasingly interconnected world, international survey data of this kind play an essential role in enabling us to undertake leading-edge global research.”

(From left to right): Randall Hansen, interim director, Munk School of Global Affairs; Darrell Bricker, global CEO, Ipsos Public Affairs; Peter Loewen, director, School of Public Policy and Governance; U of T President Meric Gertler; Didier Truchot, chairman and CEO, Ipsos; David Cameron, dean, Faculty of Arts & Science; Rob Myers, president and CEO, Ipsos Canada; Mike Colledge, president, Ipsos Public Affairs Canada; Larry Alford, U of T's chief librarian; Laurence Stoclet, deputy CEO & chief financial officer, Ipsos.

Ipsos Corp. is the world’s third-largest market research company, with offices in 88 countries. The relationship between Ipsos and the ��Ƶ goes back almost 20 years, since Ipsos made its first gift in support of U of T students in 1999. At the announcement event, Truchot said: “Ipsos is committed to providing our clients with a total understanding of society, markets and people in an increasingly volatile world so they can evaluate and act. By sharing our data, we’re continuing a tradition of supporting scholar understanding and student education for the next wave of global research experts.”

“Ipsos is perfectly situated to help ��Ƶ faculty and students analyze and understand trends in public opinion,” said Randall Hansen, interim director of the Munk School. “They are one of the world’s most renowned research agencies, and given their longstanding relationship with our university, and the strength of our researchers, the Munk School is the ideal recipient of this visionary gift. This immensely rich data will provide our faculty and students with crucial insights needed to analyze some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

Researchers like those at U of T's School of Public Policy and Governance have already started crunching the data, applying statistical analyses and using it to help enrich and inform their own studies. “This data complements the work we have been doing, and allows us to extend our research in new directions,” said Peter Loewen, associate professor in the department of political science and director of the School of Public Policy and Governance. “It will be especially valuable for our students, who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to work with such a truly world-class dataset. We are already using it in our courses, and also in a research program we are hosting at the SPPG. So we couldn’t be more pleased to have it.”

Leading up to the announcement, Ipsos, in partnership with IBM, hosted the CanadaNext Symposium at the Munk School on Sept. 18. The forum gathered thought leaders to discuss how technology, the sharing economy, the Internet of Things, and Canada’s changing demographics are creating a wave of change that is reshaping Canadian communities, businesses, jobs and lives.

“There are few organizations like Ipsos on the planet capable of gathering this scope of qualitative information,” said David Palmer, vice-president, advancement. “Our university is privileged to be the recipient of this generosity, and is best positioned to make the most of it. Data is one of the most valuable commodities in today’s knowledge economy and is among the most important gifts that can be made to an institute of higher learning like ours.”

Carbon tax will help us move closer to Paris Agreement goals: U of T political scientist

ullahnor — Fri, 19 May 2017 16:30:15 +0000

Carbon tax will help us move closer to Paris Agreement goals: U of T political scientist

ullahnor Fri, 05/19/2017 - 12:30

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Political scientist Peter Loewen says Canada still lags far behind other developed nations when dealing with carbon reduction (photo by ribarnica via Flickr)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

School of Public Policy and Governance

Subheadline

“Carbon heavy industries have not paid for the costs of their pollution...and this will require them to, at least partially.”

The federal government this week released details of a new national carbon tax.

The proposal calls for all provinces to put a price on carbon starting next year, reaching 11 cents a litre on gasoline by 2022. While the plan does allow provinces some flexilibity if they're developing their own plans, it hasn't been nearly enough to dull the sharpest criticism. Saskatchewan, for one, has threatened to take the federal government to court.

Ottawa's carbon tax announcement came the same week as a report of recommendations from the 2016 Canada-U.K. Colloquium (CUKC), which was co-hosted last year by U of T's Massey College, the School of Public Policy & Governance and the Munk School of Global Affairs, bringing in 50 delegates from Canada and the UK to discuss transition to a low-carbon economy. The report, released in Ottawa on Monday, recommends federal and provincial governments work collaboratively to ensure a successful, long-term policy. It also recommended governments give back a portion of tax revenue to provinces to offset higher energy costs for low-income households and collaboration among government, business, civil society, local communities and Indigenous people.

So far, five provinces have implemented a price on carbon, while four others are planning to introduce them. The federal government has promised any money raised from a federal carbon tax will be returned to the province in which it was raised.

Peter Loewen, director of the School of Public Policy & Governance and associate professor of political science, was at the launch of the colloquium's report this week. U of T News spoke with him about Ottawa's plan and the prospects for success.

Is this a good starting point? Is it fair?

What the federal government is doing is imposing a substantial price on carbon.

This will inevitably change the behaviour of consumers, make some industries less competitive, alter the playing field within industries and unevenly affect provinces depending on the nature of their economies.

In short, it’s a big move. The effects won’t be felt evenly, so in that sense it may be perceived as inequitable. But, on the other hand, carbon heavy industries have not paid for the costs of their pollution – for their “externalities” – and this will require them to, at least partially. So, it is fair in that sense.

Does Saskatchewan have enough to win a case or will the courts rule on the side of the federal government? For an initiative like this to succeed don’t you need cooperation between provincial and federal governments?

There’s rarely a massive policy undertaking in our country that’s uniformly welcomed by all provinces. In that sense, this is normal.

Are we on target with the Paris Agreement? Is the tax enough to make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions?

This is a point of some dispute, in my reading. Putting an explicit price on carbon will help us move towards those goals, but there is much more to be done.

Where do we stand compared to other nations fighting to reduce carbon?

We're not a leader of the pack. Compared to our developed counterparts, we appear to be a laggard. This can change, of course, but we have a long way to go.

U of T research shows Canada is not immune to anti-immigration movements

ullahnor — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 17:20:20 +0000

U of T research shows Canada is not immune to anti-immigration movements

ullahnor Wed, 02/08/2017 - 12:20

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Protest in downtown Toronto on Saturday against U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on Muslims during the National Day of Action against Islamophobia and White Supremacy (photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty)

Sean Willet

Author legacy

Sean Willet

Topic

School of Public Policy and Governance

U of T's School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG) is part of a joint study that suggests Canadians are not exceptional when it comes to tolerance of refugees and immigrants, and that there is potential here for the same level of xenophobia experienced in Europe and the U.S.

The study conducted with McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) and the firm Ipsos surveyed 1,522 Canadians between Jan. 18 to 27 – before U.S. President Donald Trump announced his controversial travel and immigration restrictions, and the recent shootings at the Quebec mosque.

“We know now we are not necessarily more enlightened compared to similar countries around the world,” says Michael J. Donnelly, assistant professor of political science and public policy at U of T. “In fact, attitudes amongst Canadians suggest there is potential for the same kind of hate we see appearing elsewhere if we are not careful.”

Donnelly initially looked at recent international public opinion research about immigration and refugees, and then he designed a Canadian poll to compare Canadian attitudes against other countries. The survey sought to answer three questions:

Are Canadian attitudes unusual among a wider sample of wealthy countries?
What do Canadians know about existing immigration policies, and what do they think of those policies?
Are survey respondents restrained by pro-immigration norms from revealing their true attitudes?

The study, “Canadian Exceptionalism: Are we good, or are we lucky,” finds that broadly Canadian attitudes are often assumed to be unusually pro-immigration. Canadians have what Donnelly describes as an “impressive” knowledge of Canada’s immigration and refugee system, and that most are satisfied with Canada’s multiculturalist approach to immigration policy.

But he does not believe that Canada's pro-immigration stance over the last half century is necessarily because of an exceptionally tolerant public. Canada is around average compared to Europe and the U.S. on issues like whether immigrants from poor countries should be accepted and whether the government should be generous in judging people’s applications for refugee status.

About 45 per cent of survey respondents said they would oppose any policy that would end all immigration, 19 per cent said they would support such a policy, but about 35 per cent were undecided.

“The public’s tolerance does not seem to be what drives Canada’s positive history of immigration and integration over the past several decades,” Donnelly says.

The study's results have been featured in the National Post with the data indicating a serious anti-immigration movement in Canada is not impossible.

Read the National Post story

Donnelly and Peter Loewen, director of SPPG and an associate professor of political science at U of T, have also penned an op-ed for the National Post on what this means for Canadian politics and its institutions.

“Canadian politics are not inevitably set to follow the rhetoric and course we see in the United States,” Loewen says. “Our institutions, and particularly our leaders, have the ability to maintain norms of non-racism and inclusion – remember, attitudes do not inexorably lead to policies and politics.”

Read the op-ed

The study also finds that a majority of Canadians think that immigrants are not well connected to society and that they harbour misconceptions about the number and education of immigrants. Loewen and Donnelly argue in the op-ed that politicians and the public have a role to play here:

“[Canadian] politicians and those selecting them have a responsibility to avoid xenophobic pandering and to reinforce the norms of behaviour that have allowed the Canadian model, for all its faults, to create the open, exciting and peaceful society we enjoy.”

Fixing Toronto City Council: U of T task force hopes to improve city hall deliberations

ullahnor — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 13:11:42 +0000

Fixing Toronto City Council: U of T task force hopes to improve city hall deliberations

ullahnor Fri, 10/21/2016 - 09:11

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U of T's School of Public Policy & Governance launches task force to improve decision-making at Toronto City Hall (Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

City & Culture

School of Public Policy and Governance

Faculty of Arts & Science

At Toronto City Council, meetings have been known to last for days. Agenda items are approved then reversed. Critics say meetings often devolve into a circus.

The ��Ƶ’s School of Public Policy & Governance (SPPG) hopes to change all that.

To improve decision-making at Toronto City Hall, the SPPG is forming a task force of former city managers, past councillors, academics and civic leaders. The SPPG says it will begin a public dialogue on the issue and release a list of recommendations for Toronto councillors to consider.

“We’re trying to start a conversation about simple ways to improve city council both in terms of the quality and tone of the debate, and some of the decisions that come out of city council,” said Gabriel Eidelman, an assistant professor at SPPG, which is in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

“A lot of people complain that it’s chaotic, it’s messy, and nothing really gets done. If an average citizen in Toronto shows up at a council meeting, and what they see is a circus, that reflects poorly on the quality of decision making.”

Eidelman organized the task force along with urban public policy consultant Brian Kelcey, principal of State of the City. The task force comprises:

former city manager Shirley Hoy, who is chair of U of T’s Governing Council;
former city manager Joe Pennachetti, currently a senior adviser at the Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance (IMFG) and the School of Public Policy & Governance (SPPG) and a senior adviser at the Global Cities Institute and executive adviser to the World Council on City Data;
former city councillors David Soknacki and John Parker;
Adrienne Batra, press secretary to former Mayor Rob Ford;
Western University assistant professor Zack Taylor;
CivicAction CEO Sevaun Palvetzian;
Bianca Wylie, head of the Open Data Institute in Toronto;
Ange Valentini, chief of staff to former councillor Adam Vaughan.

Long before the task force was even under consideration, Eidelman heard from students in his urban politics classes at U of T Mississauga and U of T’s downtown Toronto campus.

Students attending Mississauga City Council related seeing organized meetings that would last 1½ hours. Students attending Toronto City Hall would come back confused.

“My Toronto students would report back, ‘Oh my God. I don’t know what I just witnessed. It was crazy. It felt like it was grade school. It was a little silly. No one was listening to anyone,’” Eidelman says.

He believes students are not the only ones left frustrated by the Toronto City Council.

Eidelman will be conducting a confidential survey of councillors and city staff that will inform the discussion. There will also be public engagement through Twitter polls and electronic surveys.

The task force will meet at SPPG on Nov. 16, Jan. 27, and March 31. Those meetings will be open to the public.

For years, SPPG has been recognized for its expertise on federal and provincial matters, says Peter Loewen, a political scientist at U of T Mississauga and the new director of the SPPG. The school is now hoping to put that expert lens on city government, he says.

“We have collected a group of experts on issues of governance, and so we are keen to help apply this expertise at multiple levels of government, not least the most important municipal government in the country,” Loewen said.

“Our municipal government, especially in a city as large and complex as Toronto, is asked to do a lot with very little. Not only are the budgetary pressures immense, but so is the range of issues that council has to address. The goal of this task force is to identify practical ways that council can better address its most pressing challenges.”

The recommendations will be released in a report from SPPG in April, summarizing the task force’s findings.

“We’re looking for things that can be acted on quickly without going to the province and asking for major legislative changes, or new major powers for the city,” Eidelman said. “It’s putting the onus on [city councillors]. It will be nothing that the city council can’t choose to do on its own.”

That means issues like term limits and electoral reform will likely not be addressed.

Eidelman hopes the task force will look at council procedures and the makeup of committees. With city council meetings lasting for days, delegation of authority also needs to be discussed.

Other cities have created other bodies or subcommittees that make decisions on seemingly minor variance and licensing issues, so they don’t need to go before a full council.

The task force may also choose to address the acrimonious tone of questions from councillors toward city staff.

“Many of these questions are entirely politically motivated,” Eidelman said. “There’s a lot of loaded questions. Having Shirley Hoy and Joe Pennachetti, former city managers who understand not only the responsibilities of city staff but the pressures on them, will bring an important perspective to that discussion.”

Toronto Rail Deck: U of T experts on the pros and cons

lanthierj — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:10:32 +0000

Toronto Rail Deck: U of T experts on the pros and cons

lanthierj Fri, 08/05/2016 - 11:10

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Artist's rendering of the proposed 8.5 hectacre park (images courtesy City of Toronto)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

School of Public Policy and Governance

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Landscape and Design

Subheadline

Why a city of towers needs a big downtown park but not at the cost of basic upgrades and repairs

A proposed 21-acre downtown Toronto park is being touted as a bold project that will help redefine the city. But will it?

The Rail Deck Park would be built over railway tracks – a detail that sparked instant comparisons to Chicago’s Millennium Park, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars

Mayor John Tory estimated the Toronto price tag as “tens of millions of dollars” per acre and said the city is talking with CN and Toronto Terminal Railways to secure the rights to the open space above the tracks for public use.

The city is also hoping to get funds from Ottawa, the province, developers and private donations to help pay for its signature park. City planners are saying the park, which will run from Bathurst Street to the Rogers Centre, will become a central destination for all Torontonians.

U of T News spoke with Gabriel Eidelman, assistant professor at U of T’s School of Public Policy and Governance, and Larry Richards, professor emeritus and former dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, about why Toronto needs this park – and whether it’ll ever get built.

Is having a downtown park a good idea? How will it help the city?

GE: I don’t think there’s any question a new downtown park is a good idea, particularly in this area, which has seen, and will continue to see, rapid population growth. Parks have enormous value, not only from a recreational perspective, but also economically (increased property values in the surrounding neighbourhood) and, of course, environmentally (cleaner air, less water runoff, cooler temperatures). The waterfront has several large park spaces, but most are not easily accessible by foot. This proposal would add 21 acres of new parkland — that’s about the size of 21 soccer fields! — within walking distance of thousands of Torontonians. The planning rationale is rock solid.

LR: Yes, having a large downtown park is a good idea. Toronto has become a city of towers with relatively high population density. To balance the density and the fact that people are living in smaller and smaller apartments, public open space is needed, particularly in the downtown core.

It is extremely important to continue developing the lakefront and the Toronto Islands, but this is not enough in terms of parkland. Just as Chicago has its extensive lakefront and generous public parks, and just as Manhattan has its extensive public waterfronts along the Hudson River and East River plus Central Park, Toronto should have multiple types of public parks. Also, this proposed park will enable public open space linkage – Railway Park, Under the Gardiner Park, Waterfront, Toronto Islands, etc…A larger, integrated "green vision" can emerge.

Our city, our money: U of T event highlights benefits of participatory budgeting

lavende4 — Mon, 09 May 2016 18:23:52 +0000

Our city, our money: U of T event highlights benefits of participatory budgeting lavende4 Mon, 05/09/2016 - 14:23

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City Councillor Shelley Carroll speaks about the importance of participatory budgeting (Photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Adrienne Harry

Author legacy

Adrienne Harry

Topic

City & Culture

Toronto

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

School of Public Policy and Governance

Martin Prosperity Institute

Imagine a government that keeps its constituents actively involved long after the election. This is the idea behind participatory budgeting, a concept first implemented in 1989, where public budgets are managed in part by community members.

A panel of experts discussed the successes, challenges and implications of participatory budgeting and how the model is working in Toronto at an event hosted by the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) at the Munk School of Global Affairs on May 5.

Toronto launched a Participatory Budgeting Pilot in Ward 33, Ward 35 and Ward 12 in May 2015. Shelley Carroll, Toronto city councillor for Ward 33 Don Valley East, stressed participatory budgeting as a way to enable citizens to not only engage with the government, but also others in their community. “Participatory budgeting moves the process from a ‘no’ moment to a ‘yes’ moment that focuses on picking projects, not killing them,” said Carroll. “Under this model, community members are champions of the movement.”

Josh Lerner, executive director of the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP), offered a keynote presentation highlighting examples of participatory budgeting across Canada and the U.S. “We essentially empower people to decide together how to spend our money,” says Lerner.

He presented successful examples of participatory budgeting and how they have the power to galvanize underrepresented members of the community. In Boston, for instance, youth residents between the ages of 12 and 25 are invited to vote on how to spend $1M of the city’s capital budget. In New York, nearly a quarter of participatory budget voters in 2015 reported a barrier to voting in regular elections; demonstrating that this spending model could be a way to invite more marginalized communities into the democratic process.

Alex Mazer, co-founder of Better Budget Toronto, mentioned that this inclusive way of managing money helps governance make more sense to the average citizen. “Budgeting is an under-appreciated part of our democracy. In general, other budget tools are interesting, but hard to relate to. Participatory budgeting, on the other hand, is very relatable.”

Enid Slack, director of IMFG, agreed, highlighting that this budget model is an important tool for overall community engagement. “Participatory budgeting is more than just deciding how a portion of the city’s budget should be spent,” said Slack. “It is about engaging people in city issues, getting them to understand the trade-offs that have to be made in local spending decisions, improving communication between people and local government, and including marginalized groups in local decisions.”

Part of the Big Cities, Big Ideas (BCBI) lecture series, the Participatory Budgeting event was hosted in collaboration with the School of Public Policy and Governance, the Department of Geography & Planning, the Innovation Policy Lab, the Global Cities Institute, the Martin Prosperity Institute, and Urban Strategies Inc.

New regulations mean business as usual for Uber, says U of T expert

lavende4 — Mon, 09 May 2016 14:40:23 +0000

New regulations mean business as usual for Uber, says U of T expert lavende4 Mon, 05/09/2016 - 10:40

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Toronto taxi drivers protesting against Uber (All photos by Getty Images)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

School of Public Policy and Governance

For months, Torontonians have debated the fate of Uber, even as the taxi industry has threatened protests and the ride-hailing service has issued threats of its own to leave the city. As Uber continued to operate illegally – outside the terms of the current taxi bylaws – councillors and the mayor discussed solutions. This week, after a heated debate, City Council finally approved new regulations for Uber. U of T News talked with Sunil Johal, policy director at the Mowat Centre at U of T’s School of Public Policy and Governance, about the new laws governing Uber and whether these will settle the issue, once and for all.

What will change for Uber? Do the new regulations go far enough in regulating Uber?

Toronto’s new rules will largely mean business as usual for Uber, its drivers and customers. UberX drivers will now be required to file documentation, such as criminal record checks and insurance certificates, directly with the city rather than with Uber as had been the case previously, and obtain a city license. But Uber drivers won’t be required to have cameras in their car, undertake training courses or have rates regulated by the city (other than a small change to the base fare).

What effect these rules will have on the ground transportation system in Toronto is uncertain right now. Taxis have operated in a supply-managed marketplace for decades, and the effects of allowing more cars on congestion, consumer satisfaction, safety and accessibility will take some time to sort out. The City will need to closely monitor these types of issues over the next one to two years and be prepared to make adjustments as needed.

[quote (class="additional class" | author="Sunil Johal")]“Indications are that Uber is pleased with the new rules” - Sunil Johal[/quote]

How have the rules changed for taxi drivers? Is it enough to satisfy the taxi industry?

The new rules reduce a number of mandated requirements for taxis, including the elimination of 17 days of training for new drivers, refresher courses and the need to have CPR and First Aid certification. They also permit taxis to discount fares from regulated rates, and charge higher rates if trips are booked through a smartphone. Any rate reductions would need to be borne by individual drivers rather than taxicab brokers.

These amendments seem to have been designed to win the favour of the larger taxicab brokerages in the city, and also go some ways to removing time-consuming requirements for individual drivers. I expect we’ll see taxi brokerages start to explore the possibility of re-constituting themselves as Private Transportation Companies (PTCs), the classification Uber has under the new rules, as they would have greater flexibility around pricing and fewer costs. More individual drivers will also likely explore driving for PTCs, as their income potential may be higher.

Do you think the controversy ends here or will this continue? Is the city, Uber or the taxi industry still pursuing other issues or regulations?

Indications are that Uber is pleased with the new rules, and I anticipate the taxi industry will take a careful look at how their business model is going to be impacted. Some in the industry who invested in taxi medallions at a cost of $300,000 or more in recent years may still be very unhappy with the impacts of these rules on their investments. The city has committed to studying compensation for medallion owners and this could remain a friction point in the coming months.

It’s interesting to note that City Council actually requested the province step in to regulate companies like Uber. Whether the province wants to get involved in what has proven to be a political minefield will bear watching.

Are similar battles playing out in other cities? Are any of the regulations or new laws interesting enough that you think they’ll influence how other cities deal with Uber?

Toronto adopted an approach that is largely similar to that of many other cities in the US and elsewhere. A number of other cities in Ontario like Mississauga and Hamilton are currently developing approaches to their own taxi industries, and will likely use Toronto’s approach as a starting point for discussions.

For more about the Uber debate, watch Urban Studies professor Shauna Brail's video:

School of Public Policy and Governance

U of T master’s course teaches public policy students to think like community activists

Ipsos donates trove of data to U of T's Munk School of Global Affairs

Carbon tax will help us move closer to Paris Agreement goals: U of T political scientist

U of T research shows Canada is not immune to anti-immigration movements

Read the National Post story

Read the op-ed

Fixing Toronto City Council: U of T task force hopes to improve city hall deliberations

Toronto Rail Deck: U of T experts on the pros and cons

Read more about alumna Judy Matthews and Under the Gardiner

Our city, our money: U of T event highlights benefits of participatory budgeting

New regulations mean business as usual for Uber, says U of T expert