The story of the fight against the forced merger of Montreal municipalities and the world's first metropolitan de-merger.

Powerless under the country's constitution, Canadian municipal governments often find themselves in conflict with their provincial masters. In 2002, the Province of Quebec forcibly merged all cities on the Island of Montreal into a single municipality - a decision that was partially reversed in 2006. The first book-length study of the series of mergers imposed by the Parti Québécois government, The Merger Delusion is a sharp and insightful critique by a key player in anti-merger politics. Peter Trent, mayor of the City of Westmount, Quebec, foresaw the numerous financial and institutional problems posed by amalgamating municipalities into megacities. Here, he presents a stirring and detailed account of the battle he led against the provincial government, the City of Montreal, the Board of Trade, and many of his former colleagues. Describing how he took the struggle all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, Trent demonstrates the ways in which de-mergers resonated with voters and eventually helped the Quebec Liberal Party win the 2003 provincial election. As the cost and pitfalls of forced mergers become clearer in hindsight, The Merger Delusion recounts a compelling case study with broad implications for cities across the globe.

This highly topical book provides a multi-disciplinary perspective, ranging from finance to psychology, on the subject of mergers and acquisitions. Each chapter introduces key frameworks that relate to a particular perspective and incorporates case studies where these frameworks can be used for interpretive and diagnostic purposes Invites readers to apply the frameworks as maps or tools for analyzing their own organizational experiences via a series of general discussion questions. Seeks to develop its perspective by offering analytical insights into actual experiences of mergers and acquisitions in different global contexts, successful and unsuccessful, presenting new empirically based evidence to support the arguments Drawn from around the world, each author is a leading exponent in his or her perspective on mergers and acquisitions Part of the Images of Business Strategy Series which interrogates conventional categories in today’s fast-changing business world. By applying new perspectives, books in the series redefine established territories and extend our view of important business phenomena. Select international contributions to each volume are integrated by the Editor to provide a richer insight into the business landscape and open up new conceptual horizons.

In stark contrast to the dysfunctional megacity of today, The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was a city that worked. Some refer to this period from 1954 to 1998 as Toronto’s “Golden Age”. This book traces the growth and governance of the city from its creation in 1834 through its successful Metro years to why and how the decision was made to establish the present megacity while at the same time either accidentally or deliberately turning the Ontario government into both a provincial government and a regional government, as well, for a significantly enlarged Greater Toronto Area. Then it urges the provincial government to initiate a long over-due review of the governance of the city aimed at returning it to a city that works either by way of a de-amalgamation, as successfully achieved in Montreal, or at the very least by a decentralization of local responsibilities.

"Municipal Boundary Battles explores the motivations, land use effects, and financial implications of municipal boundary adjustments across Canada, focusing mainly on annexations and amalgamations--the most frequent means to adjust boundaries and reform local governments in this country. The authors uncover hidden motivations, untangle behind-the-scenes political machinations, and document the ensuing boundary battles, with a focus on mid-size cities and small towns rather than major Canadian metropolitan areas. Through empirical evidence, case studies, and examples among several provinces, the collection helps develop generalizations and inform best practices for municipal boundary adjustments and reform. The volume aims to study this phenomenon to explain how the esoteric aspects of boundary adjustments work in more practical applications, offering political scientists, geographers, municipal officials, and planning practitioners fresh perspectives that contradict much of the prevailing understanding of boundary adjustments. Contributors: Sandeep Agrawal, Cody Gretzinger, John Heseltine, John Meligrana, Jordan Rea, Amrita Singh, Jon Taylor, Zack Taylor. Afterword by Andrew Sancton."--

Merger mania is at an all-time peak. Yet up to 80 percent of mergers fail because of culture clashes, mismanagement, and the chaos that ensues. Taking this failure rate into account, merger experts Thomas M. Grubb and Robert B. Lamb have written the first book that arms managers with strategies to exploit the many growth and profit opportunities created when competitors are coping with merger chaos. Grubb and Lamb show why firms miss huge financial opportunities when they stay passive while their competitors struggle in merger chaos. They present a fast-paced primer for action when your corporate rivals merge, based on six strategies: Attack your competitors when they are distracted by their mergers' turmoil and confusion. Create a "magnet strategy" to attract and hire your merging competitors' best people while their companies are in a state of merger shock. Use the threat to your firm's survival caused by giant competitors' mergers in order to jump-start your own internal change. Use multiple alliances, networks, licensing, franchising, or joint ventures -- instead of mergers -- to fuel explosive growth. Plan and execute your firm's fast-track mergers and acquisitions. Create a composite strategy by using two or more of the above strategies simultaneously to maximize your growth and profitability. The authors analyze winning strategies at AOL, General Electric, Dell, Ford, Cisco Systems, and Vodaphone as well as failures at Coca Cola, Boeing, Union Pacific, Compaq, and Sunbeam. The result is "must" reading for operating managers at all levels, investment bankers, and mergers and acquisition specialists.

Despite decades of talk about globalization, democracy still depends on local self-government. In Local Self-Government and the Right to the City, Warren Magnusson argues that it is the principle behind claims to personal autonomy, community control, and national self-determination, and holds the promise of more peaceful politics. Unfortunately, state-centred thinking has obscured understanding of what local self-government can mean and hindered efforts to make good on what activists have called the "right to the city." In this collection of essays, Magnusson reflects on his own efforts to make sense of what local self-government can actually mean, using the old ideal of the town meeting as a touchstone. Why cannot communities govern themselves? Why fear direct democracy? As he suggests, putting more trust in the proliferating practices of government and self-government will actually make cities work better, and enable us to see how to localize democracy appropriately. He shows that doing so will require citizens and governments to come to terms with the multiplicity, indeterminacy, and uncertainty implicit in politics and steer clear of sovereign solutions. The culmination of a life’s work by Canada’s leading political theorist in the field, Local Self-Government and the Right to the City ranges across topics such as local government, social movements, constitutional law, urban political economy, and democratic theory.