In the most pressing urban challenges, the governments - federal, local and provincial - might want to consider formalizing a tripartite agreement that spells out their various responsibilities of each level. In fact, there have been precedents in Canada for this type of arrangement. In Winnipeg, where urban aboriginal issues and an abandoned downtown core top the list of priorities, there have been three agreements put in place over the past two decades. Although the most recent five-year deal - the Winnipeg Development Agreement - expired in 2001, the three governments are currently negotiating a new one. In Vancouver, a similar five-year agreement was reached in 2000 that sets the stage for governments to address poverty in the city's downtown east side.
The results flowing from both the Winnipeg and Vancouver experiences have been mixed. Certainly, the joining of financial forces under a common vision has paid dividends in the form of development and social progress that likely would not have occurred otherwise. But, some observers have criticized the approaches on several fronts. First, there is the view that many of the activities across governments have been poorly integrated, dampening the overall synergies. Second, community groups and the private sector have not been effectively brought into the equation. And, third, in some past experiences, a number of crucial issues at the heart of the problem - notably, rebuilding weak physical infrastructure - have not been adequately addressed. With these lessons learned, the federal government, along with its provincial and local counterparts, is now looking at opportunities to implement such agreements in other cities, including Toronto. We see significant opportunities in pursuing such an approach.