Canadian Urban Institute

[upbeat music] This is the City Talk podcast, brought to you with pride and sure love by the Canadian Urban Institute, or CUI.

I'm Mary Roe.

As our guest and history buff Sean Speer noted in a previous episode, the level of change, the potential for change in the economy and governance in Canadian communities is at a historically rare pivot point.

I am, uh, on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway on my way to Espanola to, uh, meet with a team that's looking at restarting a pulp and paper mill to bring a, a sovereign supply of pulp and specialty paper, uh, back to the Canadian market.

My background is in economic development, uh, 20-plus years in the public sector, formerly with the city of Toronto and York Region.

Uh, these days, I, uh, support a number of clients, including the Canadian Urban Institute, uh, and others on local community economic development initiatives.

Very good.

Well, thanks, gang, for joining us because it's such a interesting time, and we are recording today at an interesting time in Toronto, where the prime minister has called together a, a couple of hundred investors who are coming with institutional capital from around the world, uh, to talk about investing in Canada and how they ...

Hi, this is the City Talk podcast brought to you by the Canadian Urban Institute, or CUI, and I'm Mary Rowe.

This rather dramatic opening music, courtesy of our producer Andre, is from Airport.

You have to be of a certain age to remember Airport, the original 1970 movie adaptation or adaption of Canadian author Arthur Haley's best-selling novel.

[gentle music] Twenty-four little hours.

This is the City Talk Podcast, brought to you in digital bits and bytes by the Canadian Urban Institute, or CUI.

I'm Mary Roe.

So Labor Day, that's labor with a U incidentally, has come and gone for 2026, and I have one question: Have you had enough? And I'm not talking about summer heat or summer storms because most of us across Canada have sweltered enough.