And the rumblings out of last week's Big City Mayors' Caucus facilitated by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are not going away any time soon. Their argument is simple. First, Canadian cities should be recognized as a legitimate order of government. On the first two points, they're bang on.
Canadian cities are legal creatures of the provinces.
This status, akin to government impotence, was re-affirmed in the British North America Act of 1867. At the time of Confederation less than one in six Canadians lived in cities. We are one of the most urbanized nations on the planet. Business and academic literature alike teem with study after study pointing to the world's urban regions as the locus for the 21st century globalization of commerce, culture and social cohesion. This argument has considerable merit.