MORNING SESSIONS:
PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR LOCAL LEADERS – This training will equip local leaders to deliver a short, persuasive speech about an issue they are advocating, to make connections and build support.
FAIR TAXATION – Informed by extensive research, this session offers a great opportunity to step up your knowledge base and ability to communicate about economics, inequality and taxation.
LOCAL ECONOMY – With transit, energy and other procurement decisions at the local level, opportunities abound to use purchasing decisions to strengthen the local economy. Studies from the United States, and a new Canadian Columbia Institute study, have calculated the multiplier effect that local purchasing has on re-circulating money locally. And energy and transit discussions are a powerful way to amplify that impact.
THE P3 SCHOOL EXPERIMENT – For generations, school buildings have been the hub of learning for children and their communities. They are important spaces that echo the very values of public education. The move to build new schools through public-private partnerships, like the track record of P3 projects in other sectors, has proven to be a financial disappointment. Hear case studies that support the fiscal case for public control of our public schools.
EMERGING ISSUES:
Sanctuary Cities // De-Paving Paradise // Postal Banking // Cost Downloading
AFTERNOON SESSIONS:
RISING TO THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE – Across the country, local leaders are experiencing the brunt of climate change impacts, through unpredictable weather patterns and damage to infrastructure. And across the country, local leaders are rising to the challenge, through greenhouse gas reduction strategies, recommitments to public transportation, green energy, and more. The crisis of climate change is global, but many of the most impactful actions are possible right where you are.
HOUSING FIRST – New research from the Mental Health Commission of Canada shows that a ‘housing first’ approach is the most effective way of ending homelessness among people with mental illness. An estimated 150,000-300,000 people are homeless in Canada, costing Canadians about $1.4 billion each year in health care, justice and social services. ‘Housing first’ is a recovery orientated, client-centred approach that is based on the idea that the first and most primary need for people is housing, and that other issues can be better addressed once that housing is in place.
ANIMATING DEMOCRACY – Local government is the rubber hits the road, and for the majority of people it’s their most immediate and impactful experience of government. Which is why animating democracy at the local level is so foundational for building a stronger country. Youth engagement, electoral reform, and participatory budgeting are three of the many important local conversations seeking to fuel this movement, giving citizens tangible experiences of how democracy functions in their lives.
CLOSING PLENARY
Register here
Download the Preliminary Program here
Conference fee includes lunch.
