Canada’s cities are crippled by a lack of financial and governing clout. Their infrastructures are crumbling and their citizens are disaffected by the inability of municipal government—or any government, for that matter—to act on the issues that influence their constituents’ lives. Cities generate a disproportionate amount of Canada’s wealth and are home to the majority of the population, yet they have no means to control their own destinies.

Alan Broadbent suggests that the problem is a slavish devotion to a constitutional structure and a federal government that is ignorant of how crucial large cities are to our national prosperity and heritage. Canada’s landscape has been changed by the forces of urbanization and immigration. If the country is to prosper, Broadbent argues, cities must be given the same amount of power as their federal and provincial counterparts. Thoughtful and provocative,Urban Nation ignites controversy among politicians and passion among citizens and action groups eager for practical urban reform solutions.

Alan Broadbent is the chair and CEO of the Avana Capital Corporation and the chair of Maytree. He also serves as the chair of the Tides Canada Foundation and Happy Planet Foods and is a member of the Governors’ Council of the Toronto Public Library, a senior fellow at Massey College, a member of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. Alan is the author of the book Urban Nation.

Ratna Omidvar is the president of Maytree. She also serves as a director of the Toronto City Summit Alliance and is the chair of the board of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council. Ratna was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2006, and in 2010 was named the Globe and Mail’s Nation Builder of the Decade for Citizenship.

Alan Broadbent's profile page