Toronto is enjoying a brief moment in the sun.
asserted
Toronto → enjoy → sun
Money men and money women from all over the world have descended on the city for the Canada Investment Summit, which the federal government is billing as a “first-of-its-kind gathering” aimed at “accelerating new investment into Canada” – luring billionaires, in other words.
asserted
government → descend → words
The pair of big events – Mammon and the muses side by side – is a golden opportunity to show off the virtues of Canada and its leading city.
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pair → show → Canada
We are making the best of it.
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We → make → it
At a kick-off reception for the investment summit Sunday night at the Royal Ontario Museum, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the assembled suits that “we have what the world wants.
asserted
world → kick → what
The energy, the resources, the talent, the technology.”
The same evening, he appeared with his wife, Diana, at a TIFF gala, drawing big cheers from the crowd outside the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
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he → appear → Hotel
This time, he boasted about the country’s vibrant arts.
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he → boast → arts
“A confident country welcomes in culture from all around the world,” he said, speaking about the throng of industry folk who are in Toronto to make pitches, talk deals and parade on the red carpet.
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who → welcome → carpet
In Canada, he said, “we love our culture and we’ll always protect and promote our culture.”
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we → say → culture
It was a strong message, presented by a charming salesman against a brilliant backdrop.
asserted
It → present → backdrop
Toronto is putting on its best face for the events and the vibe is great.
asserted
vibe → put → events
Crowds of moviegoers strolled along Festival Street, the TIFF fan zone on a closed-to-traffic King Street West, grazing from food trucks, taking selfies and craning their necks for glimpses of movie stars.
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Crowds → stroll → stars
Lines of limousines queued outside the ROM and, the next night, the Art Gallery of Ontario to drop off and pick up a host of sleek summiteers.
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Lines → queue → summiteers
Toronto’s downtown has come roaring back from its pandemic ghost years.
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downtown → come → years
The streets are full again and the PATH underground network is crowded with office workers at lunchtime.
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network → crowd → lunchtime
Lots of other good things are happening.
asserted
Lots → happen → things
The once-neglected waterfront is reviving.
asserted
waterfront → neglect → ?
The once-underbuilt transit system is filling out, with two new light-rail lines recently opened and a big subway project under construction.
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system → fill → construction
The district around the TIFF headquarters on King has been utterly transformed in the past decade or two.
asserted
district → transform → decade
Where once there were acres of parking lots, rail yards and warehouses, a new district of bristling skyscrapers has grown up.
asserted
district → be → skyscrapers
But if the week of Mammon and the Muses puts the virtues of Toronto (and Canada) in the shop window, it also holds up a mirror to our shortcomings.
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it → put → shortcomings
Those who filtered out of the ROM reception where the Prime Minister spoke probably didn’t see the guy sitting on a bench with his knees pulled up to his chin and a hoodie pulled up over his head, sleeping it off.
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knees → filter → it
Nor did they see the intoxicated man swaying and singing to himself on the platform of the Bloor-Yonge subway station a few blocks away.
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man → see → station
Toronto, like many Canadian cities, has a big and increasingly visible population of people who suffer from homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction – often all three.
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who → have → homelessness
Its transit system, despite all the new investment, is looking down at heel.
asserted
system → look → heel
Some of the billions of dollars going to the new lines should have been spent on maintaining what already exists.
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what → go → lines
Just look at popular Trinity Bellwoods in the city’s west end, where some of this week’s visitors will go to hang out.
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some → look → visitors
Its greatest cultural institutions, the ROM and the AGO, are undergoing the latest in a series of poorly thought-out renovations.
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institutions → undergo → renovations
The route that those black cars will follow from the airport to downtown looks like a goat track in places.
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cars → follow → places
Invest in Canada, Mr. Carney says.
asserted
Carney → invest → Canada
What he doesn’t say is that, for all its strengths, this country also suffers from chronically low productivity, a cumbersome tax system, rising government debt, timorous corporate leadership, hidebound, needlessly bureaucratic banks, an aging population, a slowing birth rate and a host of interprovincial and international trade barriers that hinder its growth.
asserted
that → say → growth
Displaying their strengths to the world makes sense at a time when our best friend is running us down.
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friend → display → us
But salesmanship won’t win the war.
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salesmanship → win → war
The main task before us is to make our cities and our country better places to live, work and build.
asserted
cities → make → us
Then the investors will come running.
asserted
investors → run → ?
The Aporia
