Quote:
Originally Posted by RTD
Screw Shaw. I'm going to switch over to another cable/internet provider.
I'm sick and tired of cities like Calgary and Toronto sucking the life out of this city 
Just as this city takes some pretty big steps towards improvement, we get shoved back a full kilometer with shit like this. |
I wouldn't put any blame on any municipal jurisdiction. Business by and large is conducted without the interference of civic politicians (construction etc. not withstanding). Any uber-large (by Canadian standards) company in this country is going to more than likely be located in Toronto or to a lesser extent Calgary. This is unavoidable, due in large part to proximity to capital markets and the movers and shakers in those markets. Hence why many businesses gravitate to financial centres - Chicago, New York, London (UK), Frankfurt, Shanghai. It's certainly not because they like paying the absurdly high cost of real-estate in those centres.
I do agree that CanWest gave Winnipeg some clout that it no longer has, and CanWest (the Aspers) did force feed the Winnipeg market with some operations that benefitted the city. As it stands, it looks like many of the rank and file operations will remain in town, at least for the time being (we only stand to lose those if our business climate is considerably more expensive then say, Alberta, because there aren't many synergies to be had between the head office and the more mundane operational employees - hence why Toronto is the home to the people who run CanWest, but having some lower level positions in Winnipeg didn't negatively affect the firm). CanWest's top jobs as said were in Toronto, and have been for some time. We stand to lose the most in terms of the contributions CanWest made to the community. With that said, CanWest didn't sink because of Winnipeg, Calgary or Toronto. It sunk because Izzy and greater extent Leonard had a thirst for debt at any cost so that they could hang with the big boys, and were lured to the red-ink at a time when many (though not all) economists worth their salt would have strongly suggested to tread lightly. The Asper's lost CanWest and the Shaw's gained CanWest. $0.06 per share pretty much says it all.
It is also arguable as to whether a vertically integrated Shaw is even beneficial. Though that's an argument for a different post.
As for Winnipeg, entrepreneurship is something that needs to be taught in schools in my opinion. My highschool experience in a nutshell, could be defined as "learning how to be a good little employee". Though there is nothing wrong with being an employee, financial literacy and the spirit of risk by way of entrepreneurial endeavors was a foreign concept. Home grown business owners are the only way Winnipeg will be able to grow it's inventory of private enterprise and at that, paid private enterprise positions and the associated tax base that comes with it. (caveat: CentrePort could be very lucrative, but it's difficult to speculate on something that doesn't really exist right now in any operational capacity. The road will be a good start. I'm very hopeful.)