So Can We All Start Hating St. John's Now?; As
business capitals go, Toronto has had its crown severely tarnished in the past
few years.
Canadian Business
Mon 26 Sep
2005
Page: 004
Section: Opinion
Page Name:
Byline: Joe Chidley

Column: Editor's Note
Source:
Series:

I've been editor of this magazine for a little more than
five years, and that half-decade has brought its fair share of changes to the
Canadian business scene. But not in my wildest dreams did I imagine five years
ago that we would one day print a special report declaring St. John's the
nation's best city for business.

Apparently, times change. As Laura Bogomolny reports in this issue, some
houses in the capital of that longtime economic basket case, Newfoundland, now
routinely sell for more than $250,000--unimaginable five years ago. Meanwhile,
as Andy Holloway reports, Toronto--saddled with high taxes, soaring real estate
prices, crumbling infrastructure and job losses--is the city in Canada that
provides the least favourable business environment in terms of operating costs,
cost of living, building growth, unemployment and crime. (For overall rankings,
see the chart on page 49.)

So the centre of Canada's business universe will not hold, or so it seems.
And that should be a wakeup call not only to Torontonians but to the rest of the
country, too.

I suspect, however, that many in the latter will rub their hands in glee,
while many of the former will choose to ignore the decline of their city. Some
will charge that surveys such as these do not tell the whole story. And they'd
be right. In fact, an honest Torontonian might say "the whole story"--social
conditions, quality of life, health concerns, and other factors that go beyond
the business climate--is significantly more depressing than the one suggested by
our survey.

That honest Torontonian, if he were in a frank mood, might say that he
daydreams about leaving the city for good every time the summer temperatures
soar north of 35°C and health authorities issue yet another smog warning; when
he hears on the news that somebody's been shot; when he sees litter strewn on
the roadside, or witnesses the decrepitude of the public schools; when he drives
over a pothole-cum-crater, or when some &%#$ cuts him off. The other day, as
cars jockeyed for position at a busy gas station, a fight broke out between
drivers, one of them wielding a tire iron. Like the song says, that's People
City.

Of course, these troubles are typical of life in any large city, and yes,
things are worse someplace else. (They always are, aren't they?) The question,
though, isn't whether Toronto's bad, but whether it's getting better. Evidence
suggests that it's not.

How to kick-start Toronto? You'll find several ideas in this issue. But
here's one for provincial and national politicians to chew on, and it doesn't
involve robbing the oil-rich provinces' Peter to pay Toronto's Paul. Rather,
broad-based tax reduction--especially of our overly high taxes on capital, as
pointed out by C. D. Howe Institute CEO Jack
Mintz and colleagues in a recent tax
competitiveness paper (available at cdhowe.org.)--would help businesses invest in our
cities. There is lots of cash in this country, but it needs to be put to work
here at home. That would help Toronto, and it wouldn't hurt Calgary or Vancouver
or Montreal, either. Heck, it might even help St. John's. Not that it needs any.

Edition: Final
Story Type:
Note:
Length:
525 words