An Economic Scorecard for GTA Voters in 2014

The Toronto Region Board of Trade’s “Toronto as a Global City: Scorecard on Prosperity 2014” will arm voters with yardstick for measuring candidates

Toronto Star
Feb. 24, 2014
By Antonia Zerbisias

The Toronto Region Board of Trade sees the area at “a fork in the road” to its future potential - and the choices are between “Good Enough” and “Great.”

Between the two paths are some $2.5 billion per year from now until 2035 invested in improved transit, a powered-up hydro grid and expanded and rebuilt infrastructure including roads, bridges, water and wastewater systems. These were among the conclusions made by the board’s sixth annual report, “Toronto as a Global City: Scorecard on Prosperity 2014,” released yesterday.

The report is aimed at arming voters this election year with a yardstick for measuring political candidates’ vision for the region’s economy and quality of life. “It does lay out an alternative path for us,” said Carol Wilding, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade in an interview yesterday.

“It does say that, ‘If we want to go from good enough to great from an economic standpoint, that there are tough choices ahead but greatness is within our reach.’

“And, with this year an election year, we need to expect our leaders to put forward their plans and their ideas against this kind of yardstick. This is our potential; this is the size of the prize. Let’s hold mayoral candidates and the provincial political parties accountable to that.”

The 84-page Scorecard, available for download from the Board of Trade’s website, details 33 economic and human resources indicators that show how the region currently measure ups against other metropolitan regions.

Although the Toronto area has moved up the ranks to third place from sixth overall, placing just behind Paris and Calgary, the region is a middling 12th in economic performance. Part of Toronto’s incremental improvements can be explained by economic meltdowns elsewhere, including Madrid and Barcelona.

“They’re pretty complex challenges that are in front of us,” Wilding maintained. “But they’re doable. They’re not out of reach for us. But it does take strong leadership, certainly politically, as well as in the business community, to move this forward. But we’ll have to pay for it. Not all of it can come from government.”

The Scorecard was released as a follow-up to the board’s January’s “Think Twice, Vote Once” campaign, which is about improving standards of political leadership rather than getting “embroiled in personalities and dramatics.”

In November, the Board called for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to step down and, in January, after confusion over whether the Mayor was invited to its high-powered annual dinner, found room for him only in the back of the room.