Feeling the squeeze: Provincial cuts, Municipal impacts with Jacqueline Peterson

Municipal services are critical for our quality of life. However, the decisions facing local governments are heavily shaped by provincial policy. The province doesn’t just distribute grants to municipalities to help fund vital infrastructure, but they also set the rules and terms by which municipalities themselves can generate revenue.

Over the past few years, many traditional sources of municipal revenue have been “squeezed” by the province - with big impacts on local services, jobs, and infrastructure. When we think about provincial policy, municipal policy rarely comes top-of-mind. The speaker will argue why it should be, and discuss what part you can play in advocating for your municipality. This presentation will draw on material published in the Parkland Institute’s recent report, An Unfair Deal? The Impact of Provincial Cuts on Alberta Municipalities.

Speaker: Jacqueline Peterson

Jacqueline Peterson received her PhD from the University of Toronto (Political Science) in 2020. An expert in municipal finance, her research focuses on multilevel governance, local finance, and urban governance in Canada and the US. Jacqueline frequently teaches urban politics and policy at the University of Calgary as a Sessional Instructor. Her forthcoming book, Multilevel Fiscal Institutions and the Politics of Funding Sustainable Urban Infrastructure, will be published in 2022 by McGill-Queens University Press. Prior to entering academia, Jacqueline worked for elected representatives in both Calgary’s City Council and the Alberta Legislature.