Western GTA Summit_Booklet_May 21 2013.pdf

7/30/2019 Western GTA Summit_Booklet_May 21 2013.pdf

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ARE WE FACING

GRIDLOCK?ECONOMIC

@MissSummit

#WesternGTA

TheWestwantsin!


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GRIDLOCK?

Welcome to the 2013 Western GTA Summit and thank you for helping to build a stronger communityin Brampton, Caledon, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, Peel Region and HaltonRegion! The Summits vision is to build a brave and bold future, together.

On behalf of the Summit organizers, the hard working volunteers, our generous sponsors and my

fellow Co-Chairs, I would like to thank you for joining us today for what will be the start of a veryimportant conversation about the future of our cities and towns in the Western Greater Toronto Area(GTA). I would also like to thank all of the panelists and keynote speakers for generously giving theirtime today.

The goal of the 2013 Western GTA Summit will be to have a transformational impact on the way weLive, Move and Thrive in the Western GTA. We organized this Summit for three reasons:

1) To ensure that our collective voice is heard on the important issues facing theWestern GTA;

2) That all sectors of our community are involved in the discussion together; and

3) That the focus is as much on the whyand whatof our urban design and transitbuilding, as it is on how we will pay for it.

I am excited that Peel Regional Chair, Emil Kolb, Halton Regional Chair, Gary Carr,Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell, Oakville Mayor RobBurton, Caledon Mayor Marolyn Morrison, Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring, and Halton HillsMayor RickBonnette are our Honourary Co-Chairs. Joining the Mayors today will be prominent keynotespeakers and experts in the fields of public transit, urban design and community investment, inaddition to hundreds of your peers in business, non-profits, labour, government and other residentsfrom across the Western GTA. I encourage you to engage each other, network, explore ideas andsolutions, and ultimately build a better community.

Are we facing economic gridlock?

This is the central question of the 2013 Western GTA Summit. The issues associated with transitand transportation not only affect how we move, but also how we liveand how we thrive. All threeare interconnected and must be discussed together. The 2013 Western GTA Summit is designed tostart a discussion about the major issues facing the over 1.6 million people living in the WesternGTA. Each of the municipalities taking part in the in the 2013 Summit has a citizenry that wants asay in the important issues facing their communities and the larger GTA.

Thank you for joining us today and lending your voice to this important conversation andcollaboration. Today is only the start of what we hope will be an ongoing dialogue about theimportant issues facing our cities, towns and our region.

Sincerely,

Brian Crombie, Co-ChairWestern GTA Summit &

A Message from the Summit Co-Chair


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Summit Co-Chairs

Mayor Hazel McCallion

City of Mississauga

The organizers of the Western GTA Summit would like to thank our honourary and citizen co-chairs for their support, dedicatio

and passion for our Summit and the issues being discussed today. Their continued leadership will ensure the cities, towns and

regions of the Western GTA are well-represented and have a strong, unified voice.

Mayor Susan Fenne

City of Brampton

Mayor Marolyn Morrison

Town of CaledonMayor Rob Burton

Town of Oakville

Gary Carr

Halton Regional ChairEmil Kolb

Peel Regional Chair

Mayor Rick Goldring

City of BurlingtonMayor Rick Bonnett

Town of Halton Hill

Dr. Jeff Zabudsky

President

Sheridan College

(Oakville)

Michelle DiEmanuele, CEO

Trillium Health Partners

(Mississauga)

Alf Zeuner

President

AXYZ Autom

(Burlington)

Tayler Parnaby

Retired Broadcas

Journalist/Comm

(Caledon)

Peter VanSickle, CEO

Brampton Downtown

Development Corporation

(Brampton)

Brian Crombie

Crombie Capital Partners

(Mississauga)


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Are we facing

Economic gridlock?

Joe Berridge, FCIP, FIUD

Principal, Urban Strategies

Joe Berridge, a partner at Urban Strategies, is

recognized as one of Canadas most creative and

innovative planners. He has had an integral role in the development of some of

the largest and most complex urban regeneration projects in Canada, the U.S.,

the U.K., and Asia. Recently, he played a central role in developing a Vision

and Master Plan for former Lakeview Generating site in Mississauga, as well

as a Master Plan for the Oakville Midtown Mobility Hub.

Keynote Address

LIVE

MOVE

John Tory

Newstalk 1010

John Tory helped to found CivicAction and served on the Board ofDirectors before becoming the voluntary Chair of CivicAction. Mr. Tory is a

lawyer, business leader, community activist and broadcaster. He was formerly

an elected representative serving as Member of Provincial Parliament for

Dufferin Peel Wellington Grey, as Leader of the Ontario PC Party and as

Leader of the Official Opposition in the Ontario Parliament.

Hon. Glen Murray

Minister of TransportationKen Greenberg, Principal

Greenberg Consultants

Liz Weaver, VP

Tamarack

THRIV

E


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Move

The ability to move goods and people has been critical to the success of the municipalities in the

Western GTA. Its the reason why national and international corporations have settled here and why we

continue to be the destination of choice for new immigrants. However, as congestion increases and our public

transit system struggles to keep up, we must ask ourselves whether our past advantages will continue into the

future.

Here are some facts that demonstrate the significant problems we face:

GTA commuters have one of the longest commutes in North America at 82 minutes;

GTA families spend on average over $10,000 per year on transportation costs;

Congestion and gridlock cost the GTA over $6 billion per year in lost GDP; and

Due to years of inaction, the cost of developing new transit and transportation

networks to meet demand will cost $50 billion over 25 years.

The provincial transit organization, Metrolinx has released a transit plan for the GTA that includes 34 projectsover 10 municipalities. However, the question of how we fund this $50 billion transit plan remains unclear.

Metrolinx has released a short list of revenue tools and will submit a final list in June 2013. With multiple

municipalities involved, developing a consensus on the tools that should be used will be difficult.

Through todays Summit, the residents of the Western GTA will have a strong voice to influence these importan

decisions. The questions we must ask are:

How can we address the issues of congestion, and build transit and

transportation systems that move our residents quickly, affordably and

seamlessly across the GTA?;

What will our integrated transit, road and air transportation networks look like; and

How will we pay for these networks?


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LiveCan we continue to live the way we do and still prosper? Along with determining how we will move more

efficiently, we must also ask whether we need to change how we are living in the Western GTA, because

how we live that is how we plan our cities, manage development and increase density has a direct

effect on how we move and more importantly, how we thrive and prosper.

Unlike Toronto, the Western GTA has featured lower density development. The municipalities in the west

have been designed for the most part around single family homes, with larger properties. More

importantly, they have been designed with the automobile as the primary design motivator. However, with

ever-rising fuel prices and an ever-increasing population in the Western GTA, it may be time that we

re-examine how we plan our cities and manage our growth.

As we develop our transit and transportation networks, it is important to take into account urban design

and planning. For instance, there must be sufficient demand and density to support a Light Rail Transit

(LRT) network, but how are we going to facilitate this density, and where? Moreover, how do we manage

NIMBYism and the initial reaction in many communities to simply say no to new development that is not

in line with what has traditionally been built in a certain area.

When we consider how we want to live in the future, we must ask the following questions:

Do we need to change the way in which we live and design our communities?

What should our future neighbourhood and city growth look like?

Do we require changes in zoning, density and urban design, and what about the call for

an end to sprawl?

Is there a way to use new development to revitalize depressed areas and bolster the

economic prospects in our community?

In the next 20 years, more than 4 million more people are expected to move into the GTA, which will

necessitate a change in how we live. Moreover, the 2006 provincial Places to Growlegislation has

mandated increased growth and density in Peel Region and the Western GTA. Managing this growth

intelligently is critical, not only to how we move goods and people in this region, but also how we thrive

and prosper.


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ThriveIndividuals and families experiencing poverty struggle because of limited access to income, supports, services

and resources. Poverty is not only about income, but also about the inability of people to live independently,

focus on wellness and be involved in community life.

Survey respondents defined a thriving community as one that has:

Economic opportunities

Progressive income security

programs

Affordable & accessible transportation

Affordable, healthy food

A community free from violence

Elimination of social exclusion-a safe, carin

supportive community

Quality healthcare Affordable childcare

Educational and life-long learning opportun

Eliminating poverty is essential to our collective economic prosperity it just makes economic sense.

Poverty is costly for tax payers and businesses and contributes to lost productivity, insufficient pool of skilledworkers and higher costs related to social and health services. Addressing poverty is an investment and the

2013 Western GTA Summit can be a catalyst for change.

Poverty facts:

20% of children aged 0-5 are part offamilies living in poverty.

Between 1996-2006, there was a 57%increase in the number of childrenaged 0-5 living in poverty in Peel.

18% of persons with disabilities,

about 30,000 people are living inpoverty.

The average youth unemploymentrate in 2011 was 16%.

33% of immigrants live in poverty.

About 20% of visible minorities live inpoverty,double the rate for non-visibleminorities.

Nearly 40% of seniors living along areliving inpoverty.

How we move is integral to how we thrive and prosper. We must ask the tough questions:

Poverty remain a serious concern in the GTA, but how we will we fight it?

How will we tackle homelessness, precarious employment and the increasing use of food

banks?

What innovations and employment opportunities will we create for youth, seniors, new

immigrants and the working poor to ensure everyone has a chance to thrive?


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Documents

Western GTA Summit_Booklet_May 21 2013.pdf