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Business Survey Gets Mixed Media Reaction
September 30, 2005
A survey that ranks Hamilton the number one city in Ontario for business has been described as "absurd" by Globe and Mail urban columnist John Barber. The annual survey by Canadian Business magazine placed Hamilton sixth in Canada and Toronto 40th.
A Spectator story this morning ("City tops in Ontario to do business") says city officials are rejoicing about Hamilton 's ranking. Councillor Terry Whitehead is quoted as saying "this is a way for us to measure we're really moving in the right direction".
Barber notes however that "every one of [the survey's] top-10 cities -- including St. John's, Charlottetown and Thunder Bay -- is either struggling to attract investment, actively shrinking or (q.v. Quispamsis) insignificant. And yet the 10 worst cities -- including Markham, Mississauga, Richmond, B.C., Vancouver and Oshawa -- are job-producing powerhouses." The survey ranked St. John's , Newfoundland first, followed by Sagueney, Quebec and Quispamsis/Saint John, New Brunswick.
Barber says the ranking "naively assumes that low cost is all that makes a place attractive. Thus it elevates all the cities where prices are cheap -- an accurate reflection of the fact that they are the least attractive locations -- far above the cities where costs are high precisely because they are more attractive."
That's not the take in Tuesday's story in the Saint John Telegraph Journal ("Saint John ranked third best in Canada for business development") which says that city's ranking ahead of Hamilton and Toronto is based on "the strength of two mega energy projects and ongoing push to attract immigrants, especially international students".
It quotes a local business leader: "I have noticed a lot more people talking less about the community's potential and talking more about it realizing its potential." The New Brunswick paper also suggests that Moncton's slippage from third to 13th in the national ranking fails to reflect the recent expansion of the city's call centre by 300 employees.
But the Globe's commentator satirically suggests that the publisher of Canadian Business is about to relocate from Toronto to "Quispamsis, a formerly obscure town of about 15,000 people in southern New Brunswick". Barber says Quispamsis is offering the publisher "prime, partially-drained moose pasture absolutely tax-free forever".
"Imagine if the magazine had extended its survey to include London, New York and Tokyo, three of the world's most successful and costliest cities?" Barber asks. "Quispamsis would shine even brighter. Bay Street would empty as traders rushed to dig peat in low-cost New Brunswick."
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