Policies forged by all levels of government affect the lives of urban residents. Contributors to this volume explore how intergovernmental relations shape urban policies and how various social forces are involved in - or excluded from - the policy process.

Focusing on diverse policy fields including emergency planning, image-building, immigrant settlement, infrastructure, federal property, and urban Aboriginal policy, Sites of Governance presents detailed studies of the largest city in each of Canada's provinces. Drawing on extensive documentary research and hundreds of interviews, contributors offer rich, nuanced analyses and a wealth of policy cases, ranging from preparation for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics to the development of innovative immigrant settlement programming in Winnipeg. Dominant themes include the importance of resources and formal jurisdiction in multilevel policy making, and the struggle for influence between business interests and other social forces.

Essential reading for anyone concerned with the quality of urban life in Canada, Sites of Governance offers important insights about how multilevel governance works in Canadian cities.

Contributors include Laurence Bherer (Université de Montréal), David Bulger (University of Prince Edward Island), Christopher Dunn (Memorial University), Robert Finbow (Dalhousie University), Joseph Garcea (University of Saskatchewan), Pierre Hamel (Université de Montréal), Martin Horak (University of Western Ontario), Thomas Hutton (University of British Columbia), Christopher Leo (University of Winnipeg), Greg Marquis (University of New Brunswick , Saint John), Byron Miller (University of Calgary), Cecily Pantin (Memorial University), Alan Smart (University of Calgary), Donald Story (University of Saskatchewan), and Robert Young (University of Western Ontario).

Martin Horak is associate professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario.

Martin Horak's profile page

Saskatchewan-born, Robert J. Young received his doctorate from the London School of Economics, and is currently Emeritus Professor of History and Fellow of United College at the University of Winnipeg. He is a recipient of the University’s principal award for Excellence in Teaching, and its principal award for Excellence in Research. He was also named Canadian Professor of the Year by the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education. The first of his 10 books was published by Harvard University Press, the most recent by the Winnipeg Free Press. His biography of one 20th-century French statesman was awarded the Canadian Historical Association’s Ferguson Prize for the best book in non-Canadian history; and another biography of a French diplomat and historian received the Manitoba Writers’ Guild’s Isbister prize for the best work of non-fiction.

Robert Young's profile page