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LGP Bulletin Board
Book Launch: City Politics in Canada
On October 15, 2026, Prof. Horak and Prof. Taylor will discuss their new book with Jack Lucas, City Politics in Canada: Forty Years of Continuity and Change. The event, held at the University of Toronto Bookstore, is sponsored by the School of Cities at the University of Toronto and University of Toronto Press.
To sign up: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/book-launch-city-politics-in-canada-forty-years-of-continuity-and-change-tickets-1999263011486.
October 15, 2026
MPA Class Represents Western with ImpactLab London Project
Kate Graham's PA9913 Local Economic Development class participated and represented Western in ImpactLab London's recent project. Full-Time MPA student, Silvia Rodrigues represented the class at Huron University's CURL 2026 Spring Conference.
CURL 2026 Spring Conference Agenda
ImpactLab London - Western University's Projects
April 10, 2026
New Book Release for LGP Director Joe Lyons
A practitioner-oriented guide for elected municipal officials and public servants looking to adopt innovative solutions in their organizations. Edited by Joe Lyons, Zack Spicer and Tyler Romualdi.
Book Details & Order
March 2026
2026 Mayor's Challenge
Two teams of full-time MPA students presented their ideas to City of London Mayor Josh Morgan and his staff, on Thursday, March 12, 2026. A very sincere thank you the Mayor and his entire staff for giving students the opportunity to gain some firsthand exposure to the local policy process.
March 12, 2026
New IMFG Paper by Professors Zack Taylor & Joe Lyons
In a new paper for the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG), Zack Taylor, Craig Mutter, Joseph Lyons, and Alex Dobson update IMFG’s Power and Purpose: Canadian Municipal Law in Transition (2020), providing an accessible and systematic comparative overview of municipal authority and responsibilities across all ten provinces and three territories.
Research Details
Paper
January 21, 2026
New Book by Professors Horak and Taylor
In City Politics in Canada: Forty Years of Continuity and Change (University of Toronto Press 2026), co-editors Profs. Martin Horak and Zack Taylor, as well Jack Lucas at the University of Calgary, explore how social and economic transformations have reshaped the practice of politics in seven large Canadian cities: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Calgary. In doing so, they revisit and carry forward the ambition of City Politics in Canada, edited by the late Warren Magnusson (University of Victoria) and Western’s own Andrew Sancton in 1983.
January 5, 2026
New Book Chapter by Professor Taylor
In a new chapter entitled “Strange Multiplicity: Diverse Patterns of Governance for Canadian Metropolitan Areas”, Prof. Zack Taylor relates two scales of governance and political representation that are inextricable, but which are rarely considered together: the metropolitan and the municipal. The chapter appears in the open-access volume Local Government Structure and Intergovernmental Relations: An Urban-Rural Perspective, edited by Karl Kössler and Eva Maria Belser (Springer 2026).
January 5, 2026
Professor Taylor Joins School of Cities at UofT as Visiting Professor While On Sabbatical
Prof. Zack Tayor is Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities during his sabbatical from January to June, 2026. While there, he will work with collaborators on several projects: with the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance to construct the first national Canadian database of local public finance; with the Political Accountability, Transparency, and Representation Oversight Network (PATRON), led by Christopher Cochrane and Rohan Alexander, to advance a project on election campaign finance and urban political economy; and with Phil Triadafilopoulos on immigration in Canadian political development.
January 5, 2026
Historical News Items
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Professor Emeritus Andrew Sancton featured in Rhodes Scholars in Education Professor Emeritus Andrew Sancton has been featured in the Rhodes Trust’s Rhodes Scholars in Education video interview series. To see the eight minute video, in which Professor Sancton discusses the rewards of teaching local government and shares his views on challenges facing higher education. |
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Full-Time MPA Student Wins AMCTO-Mitac Internship The Municipal Innovation Internship Program (MIIP) provides emerging professionals with hands-on experience while contributing to meaningful projects that support municipalities and the communities they serve. Silvia Rodrigues was awarded the Records Management Review Implementation Project with the Municipality of North Perth. |
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Sandra Datars Bere is Western's 2025 Dr. Ivan Smith Award Recipient Western Alumni is recognizing that Sandra, a double graduate of Western (BA 87, MPA 06) has dedicated her 38-year career to strengthening communities and supporting the most vulnerable through effective governance and compassionate leadership. Sandra is the current President of the LGP Alumni Society. |
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Mayor's Challenge 2024/2025 Two teams of full-time MPA students presented their ideas for downtown revitalization to City of London Mayor Josh Morgan and his Chief of Staff, Nathan Smith on Friday, February 28, 2025. One team focused on postsecondary students as an untapped tourist market and the other considered various measures to enhance public safety in the core. A very sincere thank you the Mayor and his entire staff for giving students the opportunity to gain some firsthand exposure to the local policy process. |
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Kate Graham OUSA Teaching Excellence Award Winner The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance Award for Teaching Excellence recognizes educators who excel at unlocking the potential of Ontario’s young people. It is our pleasure to give these remarkable professionals the recognition they deserve. Successfully engaging individuals in the learning experience is highly dependent on an instructor’s ability to spark the desire to learn in students. Congratulations Kate, our LGP students agree that this is a well-deserved recognition! |
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Jesse Helmer Releases New Research Report Jesse has released a new research report entitled "The Politics of Infill Housing: What 15 Years of Planning Decisions Reveal" |
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LGP Partners with City of London: MPA Students Carry Out Municipal Issues Research The LGP has a new partnership with the Office of the Mayor to be part of research projects for the City of London. |
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Western's Local Government Program Celebrates 50th Anniversary in 2024 Part history, part celebration, part view of the future, Local Matters reminds us of where the Local Government Program came from, how it has changed, and its impact on local governance in Canada. |
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Congratulations to Jacob Sookraj, 2024 CAPPA/IPAC National Student Thought Leadership Award Winner Jacob Sookraj was selected as the LGP's 2024 recipient of the National Thought & Student Leadership Award, a joint initiative of CAPPA and IPAC. Jacob has the highest cumulative average among Full-Time MPA students. In addition to winning the award, Jacob has been invited to compete in an e-poster competition with the winners from the other CAPPA universities. |
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Professor Taylor Appointed Journal Editor-in-Chief Prof. Zack Taylor has been appointed to a five-year term as editor-in-chief of Territory, Politics, Governance, an international, interdisciplinary journal published by the Regional Studies Association. The journal is committed to the development of theory and research on territorial politics and the governance of space and the publication of original, high-quality international scholarship that advances this growing field of research. |
Instructor Jesse Helmer Releases Major Research Paper
LGP instructor and Western doctoral student Jesse Helmer produced an analysis for Smart Prosperity entitled Less is More: Where We Build 5.8 Million Homes Matters. The report shows how more than 2,000 communities in Canada have built housing over the past ten years and modelled scenarios for the next ten years in terms of the climate impact depending on where and how these homes are built. The paper has been presented to national media and is being released from Smart Prosperity.
Professors Horak and Taylor Launch Canadian Municipal Attributes Portal
Martin Horak and Zack Taylor are pleased to announce the launch of the Canadian Municipal Attributes Portal (CMAP), an interactive app that presents information on how governance is structured in major municipalities across Canada. CMAP includes data on dozens of key institutional attributes – ranging from electoral systems and council structure to the governance of service provision – for nearly 100 municipalities. The portal’s functions allow users to compare institutional characteristics across municipalities of their choice, making it a useful tool for both research and classroom applications.
New Article by Professor Joe Lyons
Joe Lyons has co-authored a new article with Zachary Spicer (PhD’13) and Morgan Calvert (MPA’19) in Canadian Public Administration, entitled “Preparedness and crisis-driven policy change: COVID-19, digital readiness, and information technology professionals in Canadian local government.”