PATTERNS OF POLITICS IN CANADA'S IMMIGRANT-RECEIVING CITIES AND SUBURBS.

This paper seeks to develop a comparative framework through which to study the effects of immigration-driven demographic change in the ethno-cultural composition of municipal populations on municipal politics and governance in Canada. It asks two central questions. First, how do municipalities respond to dramatic change in the ethno-cultural composition of their populations? Second, what explains the variation in municipal responsiveness to the concerns and policy preferences of immigrants and of ethno-cultural minorities? The paper develops a typology of municipal responsiveness to immigrants and to ethno-cultural diversity to characterize patterns in policy outputs in multiculturalism policy at the local level. Furthermore, in the quest to explain local policy behavior, it brings together two theories – urban regime theory and the social diversity thesis – arguing that the ethnic configuration of municipal societies structures the likelihood that local leaders will coalesce in urban regimes with multiculturalism goals as well as influences the dynamics of the governing arrangements. The paper engages these theoretical ideas with the findings of a comparative study of seven highly diverse municipalities in some of Canada's most numerically significant immigrant receiving city-regions. By showing how local context and politics matter, the paper challenges traditional conceptions of municipal agency in Canada that portray municipalities as mere creatures of provinces rather than as important democratic governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]