By Dawar Naeem
(Dawar is a journalist with the FOCUS Media Arts Centre)

In this episode journalist Dawar Naeem interviews Denise Soueidan-O’Leary and Thomas Linder who are the leads on the Regent Park Community Wealth feasibility study. Initiated in January 2012, the Regent Park Community Wealth Initiative is exploring the potential for the developing a new sustainable economic model for the Regent Park community.

The Community Wealth Feasibility Project is a partnership between the City of Toronto, Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), Young Street Mission (YSM), and the Employment and Economic Development table of the Social Development Plan (SDP).  Initiated in January 2021, the project is exploring the feasibility of developing a new sustainable economic model for the Regent Park area by creating an environment that can nurture opportunities for community ownership, local entrepreneurship and resident operated businesses.  The overall objective is to support the local economy.

Researchers involved in the project have been looking at community wealth models around the world. Community Wealth initiatives have been implemented successfully in New York in the US, Preston in the UK, and in Parkdale, Toronto here in Canada.  These community wealth models are varied in implementation and results, but each community has benefited uniquely.

One local example can be found in Parkdale, where the Parkdale People’s Economy is considered one of the most successful community wealth initiatives, the project comprises of a participatory planning process where participating members of the community have a voice on how community finances are managed.

To drive the Regent Park Community Wealth feasibility study forward, the project leads (Denise Soueidan-O’Leary and Thomas Linder) have engaged a community driven process to obtain input for the study. To date three community engagement workshops have been held with community members.