xii, 144 p. : ill., maps ; 28 cm."To mark the 25th anniversary of Winnipeg's unified civic government, the Institute of Urban Studies organized "The State of Unicity-25 Years Later Conference," held at The University of Winnipeg, October 3-4, 1997. The 25th anniversary of Unicity presented a unique opportunity to revisit this important event in post-war Canadian urban reform, but more importantly, to examine the present state of local government in Winnipeg and other municipalities, and the future of urban governance. The conference was funded by The Winnipeg Foundation, the City of Winnipeg and The University of Winnipeg Department of Political Science, and was well attended by a diverse audience made up of current and former elected officials and civic administrators (local and regional), community group representatives, academics, students and interested citizens.
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This volume contains the papers presented by the 12 panellists as well as the keynote and luncheon speakers over the two days of the conference: The papers reflect the varied backgrounds of the authors, at least eight of whom have held political office or have worked at the local or provincial government level. Due to a time limit imposed on panellists, the majority of the papers are brief in length,- although each makes important observations about local government which have practical and theoretical significance for Winnipeg and other Canadian municipalities. The papers presented here contribute to our understanding of the impact of the Unicity experiment and municipal amalgamation, and provide insights to help inform plans for the next 25 years of local government in Winnipeg.