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Councillor Thompson RemarksAMANS Conference

Sydney, Nova Scotia, September 21, 2016

Thank you,

I am very pleased to be back in

Nova Scotia again, and to have an

opportunity to share some of the

things we have learned about the

role creativity can play in the

economic development realm. I

am hopeful that our experiences

may spark ideas that can help you

address the challenges in your

municipalities.

1 AMANS Conference, 2016

You might well ask “what does a

fellow from Toronto know about

Nova Scotia’s municipal

challenges?” Toronto’s population

is three times larger than the

population of the entire Province,

and its issues are certainly a

different kettle of fish than those in

Wolfville, Port Hawkesbury,

Sydney or Yarmouth.

Well, I believe that while the

municipalities here differ in scale

from the City of Toronto, many of

the principles we employ do not

depend on size to work. I plan to


focus on our similarities, not our

differences.

There is a tendency for us in

municipal government to end

every discussion about a new idea

with the words “great idea, but we

can’t afford it.” The budget card is

often played before any time is

spent exploring opportunities to

innovate.

We found that if an idea is really

compelling, there are often ways

to make it work regardless of a

tight budget.


There is also a tendency to look to

higher orders of government for

solutions to our big problems.

But I believe that most truly

successful initiatives, the ones

with the most energy and vitality,

originate locally and are driven

locally.

In Toronto, we came to the

conclusion that waiting for other

people to bail us out wasn’t

working. It wasn’t an option. I think

the most important decision we

made was to decide to own the


economic growth issue, and do

what we could to improve it.

Our first step was to focus on our

assets and not our weaknesses –

to work with what we have and not

dwell on what’s missing. We

realized that since we had

amazing knowledge and

innovative thinking available to us

in the community, we should put

those resources to work for the

City.

We convened a blue ribbon panel

of business leaders under the

banner “Toronto Prosperity


Initiative.” We asked them to tell

us what the City could do to

improve our business climate and

pave the way for growth, without

massive expenditures of money or

other resources.

The panel came back with a list of

12 things we could do right away

at little or no cost, and a second

list of things to do down the road.

Next, we convened an advisory

group of arts and business leaders

to share perspectives and make

recommendations about what the

City could do to maximize the


economic potential of arts and

culture. Arts and culture are

among the most important drivers

available to communities to

accelerate economic growth.

They developed the “Creative

Capital Gains” report, which

outlined a number of things that

the City could do to promote the

growth and success of a broad

spectrum of arts and culture

ventures.

A by-product of the process was

that when arts and culture leaders

got together, they discovered


opportunities to share resources in

ways that made their

organizations stronger and more

efficient. Collaboration with the

City led to collaboration among

arts groups as well.

The City of Toronto accepted all of

the recommendations of both

initiatives and we have

implemented, or are working on

implementing all of them.

These initiatives have brought

government closer to stakeholders

in both business and the arts, and


created an ongoing spirit of

collaboration among us all.

My point is that when local

government, no matter how big or

small it is, takes the lead in

bringing business people, artists,

culture leaders and other smart

people together with a common

focus, new energy is injected into

the community. And both the

economy and the society will grow

stronger.

There is a general consensus that

Canada’s economic growth in the

21st century will depend on “the


creative economy.” This refers to

businesses whose principal assets

are not factories and production

facilities, but really smart people.

The arts and culture sector plays

an especially important and

central role in a creative economy.

Cultural breadth and intensity

enhances the appeal of an area

as a place to locate a business.

In the new economy, business

success depends on an ability to

recruit skilled knowledgeable

workers. The arts and cultural

offerings available in a region are 10 AMANS Conference, 2016

significant factors for both

companies and their workers

when deciding where to relocate.

Today’s talent seeks out creative

environments.

Successful jurisdictions are

increasingly turning to the

development of creative clusters

because they generate significant

economic advantages. They are

labour intensive, nearly impossible

to outsource to other places and

have an economic multiplier

equivalent to roughly one indirect

job for each job directly created.


A few years ago, the conference

Board of Canada reported that for

every $1 dollar produced by

Canada’s cultural industries,

almost $2 dollars are added to the

overall GDP.

As municipal executives, I am

sure that you will be happy to hear

that approximately 25% of the

economic activity generated by

the arts and culture sector goes

back to governments as tax

revenue.

Beyond their direct economic

benefits, strong culture clusters


help to attract and build other

knowledge-based clusters, drive

tourism, enhance local branding

and improve the overall quality of

life.

Toronto’s emphasis on supporting

arts and culture is a major factor in

our ongoing economic

transformation. As in most North

American cities, our

manufacturing sector, which was a

major part of our economy, has

been in sharp decline over the

past two decades.


However, we continue to offer a

strong value proposition to

business investors thanks in part

to our strong performing arts and

visual arts tradition, our embrace

of the TV and film production

industry and our support for the

cultural events and activities of our

various communities.

Toronto’s current economic

foundation is made up of strong

sectoral clusters that depend on

creative and well-educated

workers for their growth and

success.


Our embrace and support of

creativity carries over to our

entrepreneurial sector, especially

the small and medium-sized

businesses that make up 97 per

cent of our total number of

enterprises.

You will find the same trend in

other cities. Austin, Texas went

all-in to become a “music city.” It is

home to the South by Southwest

Festival and a magnet for talented

musicians to live and work. Its

success in attracting, nurturing

and exploiting its arts and culture


community has enabled Austin to

get the attention of major high-

growth companies and establish a

strong and expanding high tech

cluster. Austin is growing rapidly

and it all started with music.

Other cities are drawing on arts

and culture to rise from the ashes.

Cleveland, Ohio has based its

renaissance on a revitalization of

its downtown that includes the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, new

sports stadiums and dining and

entertainment corridors. People

who once abandoned the


downtown for the suburbs are now

returning to reclaim and renovate

classic old homes and enjoy the

energy of an urban lifestyle.

Perhaps the most surprising

example of cultural salvation is

Detroit. A few years ago, Detroit

was the poster child for urban

abandonment and blight. It’s

population had dropped by half

and whole neighbourhoods were

empty and decaying.

An effort is now under way to

transform the city core into a

cultural and entertainment Mecca.


There is art everywhere, not just in

galleries and museums but in the

subway and on the street. It has

become one of the liveliest

downtowns in North America.

Nova Scotia, with its strong local

arts and culture tradition, has an

opportunity to grow its economy

by leveraging its creative

resources.

Don’t let size hold you back. The

opportunity for growth is there if

you take advantage of the creative

and entrepreneurial spirit of your

people.


Nova Scotia is rich in arts and

culture assets built on your unique

history and strong sense of place.

You hold festivals as diverse as

Stanfest, Liverpool International

Theatre Festival, Festival de

l’Escaouette, The Gordie

Sampson Song Camp,

Shakespeare by the Sea, Halifax

Jazz Festival, Granville on the

Green, Celtic Colours, Acadian

Days, Festival Antigonish, and

countless others that showcase

Nova Scotia to the world and

attract tourists.


Musicians from all over love the

province for its quality of life and

collaborative culture. David Myles,

Dean Brodie, Matt Andersen,

Thom Swift, and Amelia Curran

have all moved here from other

provinces, and you are producing

a steady stream of emerging

“export ready” artists and arts

businesses.

Your universities and community

colleges have developed courses

to serve Nova Scotia’s emerging

creative economy. Halifax’s DHX

Media, Copernicus Studios, and


Lunenburg’s HB Studios hire all

Halifax animation course

graduates each year, and

supplement them with talent from

around the world.

Your provincial government is also

helping out. Its new $2 million

Creative Industries Fund launched

in May is helping creative sector

businesses to expand their reach

into new markets.

The province is also tapping the

knowledge and experience of the

local arts community through the


Creative Nova Scotia Leadership

Council.

If you haven’t already done so, I

urge you to read the Council’s

2014 report “Culture: Nova

Scotia’s Future.” The report

provides an excellent blueprint on

how Nova Scotia can maximize

the cultural sector’s potential as

an economic and social driver.

While cultural development

momentum has been slow to build

in the province, I understand that

local communities, many of whom

are represented here, have


independently adopted strategies

to develop their own culture

sectors and creative clusters.

Keep up the good work and be

sure to share your experiences

with your colleagues in other

communities.

In keeping with the spirit of

collaboration, I would like to share

a little of what we have learned

about leveraging arts and culture

as an economic driver.

The first lesson we learned was to

take the initiative. Take an

inventory of your local arts and


culture assets and bring together

arts, culture and interested

business stakeholders to devise a

plan for growth. Make sure the

bulk of the plan is do-able within

the scope of local resources, and

where provincial or private sector

resources are needed, develop a

process to engage them.

Second, you should consider

building a local creative cluster. If

your area is known for artisan

furniture, devise a plan to

encourage more furniture-makers

to set up in your community. The


same approach applies to

musicians, potters, sculptors,

fashion designers, violin makers,

stained glass artists, glass

makers, Celtic dancers and so

forth. Figure out what environment

creators need to create. Then get

your community together to

provide it.

If your community is too small to

host a cluster on its own, consider

getting together with your

neighbouring municipalities to

create a cultural or creative

region. Pooling resources will


enable you to offer artists and

artisans a more compelling

environment and broader choices

of location to set up and grow.

Pooling is an especially useful

strategy for developing and

staging a festival. Festivals are

popular and successful in Nova

Scotia because they are great

ways to spotlight a community’s

unique character and prevailing

culture, and a great way to market

your industries and your municipal

brand. From lobsters to apples,

from potatoes to architecture,


seasonal holidays or sail boating,

festivals create local energy,

attract tourists and generate

revenue for local businesses.

When communities get together to

create a regional festival, they can

punch well above their individual

weights in economic and social

returns.

There are plenty of things you can

do that won’t cost a lot of money.

Be innovative and open to new

ways of looking at old problems.

Find ways to make things happen


and not reasons to maintain the

status quo.

Like rural areas across Canada,

many smaller Nova Scotia towns

have steadily lost population to

larger cities over the last several

decades. This often leaves

unutilized or underutilized

buildings in the community that

could be made suitable for artists’

studios, rehearsal halls or

fabrication space.

Make an inventory of these places

and develop a plan to transform

them into creative spaces. Artists,


artisans and other creative

workers often prefer to operate in

rural settings if the space is

affordable, the community is

welcoming and the quality of life is

appealing.

We all know that the Internet has

changed everything. It is now

feasible for many knowledge

workers to work away from

population centres in more

affordable and livable

communities without

compromising the quality of their

work or their access to the tools


they need to excel. There may be

skilled, creative people in your

communities today who, under the

right conditions, could stay in town

to work and not have to move to

the city.

It would be wise for all

communities, no matter how rural,

to ensure that its people and

businesses have access to high

bandwidth, high speed

connectivity to the Internet. No

creative community today can

operate without it.


Finally, I want to emphasize what I

believe is the key principle for

successful local economic

development. It is summed up in

one word – collaboration.

Decades of unbridled competition

across the business and social

spectrum has created winners and

losers and alarming levels of

social and economic inequality.

Unfettered competition has not

served the best interests of our

society, our country, or nations

and people around the world, for

that matter. Collaboration, on the


other hand, is the gathering tide

that will raise all boats.

In a municipal context this means

collaboration with businesses and

service clubs, collaboration with

arts and culture groups,

collaboration with neighbouring

municipalities and collaboration

with the province. You will achieve

economic strength by finding new,

innovative and better ways of

working together to build it.

We are all partners in growing

Canada’s economy, and your

success in Halifax, Sydney, Port


Hawkesbury, Bridgewater and

across Nova Scotia will contribute

to the economic success of

Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and

the rest of Canada.

Nova Scotia is beautiful, vibrant

and creative. I wish you the

utmost success in building on the

province’s considerable assets to

bring prosperity to every village,

town and city from Yarmouth all

the way up to Meat Cove. Thank

you.


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