In 2007, the line ran down the street, as people queued to get in on the action. Some apparently waited for days hoping to purchase a condo in a building to be built. With such demand, the developers kept upping the unit prices -- literally posting the ever-rising prices on a billboard. The penthouse, for the record, was sold to a Hong Kong man who had agreed to drop $25 million.
One Bloor condo building was a project that died with Lehman Brothers. It has not stayed dead for long.
Originally meant to stretch 80 stories over Toronto's luxury shops of the Yonge and Bloor area, the condo building that would host a hotel and swath of stores (supported by the American financial powerhouse that had survived the Depression but not subprime mortgages) was not built in 2008. The next year, the developers mulled a scaled-back version. And then, nothing. For months, the lot stood empty, symbolic of a world that collapsed into recession.
And in 2011? The building is going up and the condos are being sold. Welcome to Canada.
It's no longer 2008 and while the rest of the world stews in malaise and economic crisis, Canada is doing just fine. One Bloor has new owners and the plans are ambitious. Rumours circulate that Apple is eyeing some retail space. (For the record, Toronto now rivals New York City in the number of Apple stores.) The building will soon stretch tall over a prosperous Toronto, in a prosperous Canada.
The world may be in recession, but Canada isn't. The economy expands, posting a robust 3.1 per cent last year.
Are Greek banks safe? What's going on in Spain? Is Italy next? Canadians worry only about the impact of other countries on a prosperous land.
Others have noticed. When the G20 gathered in Toronto, the Washington Post ran a fawning article on the stability of our housing market and the Huffington Post provided America's jobless with clever if unusual advice: move to Canada.
Forbes joins a growing list of fans, putting Canada at the top of its list of places to do business. The ranking considered 11 factors for 134 countries, including property rights, red tape, corruption, freedom, and stock market performance.
Writes Forbes' Kurt Badenhausen:
"During the run-up to every U.S. presidential election, countless Americans threaten to move to Canada if their preferred candidate does not emerge victorious. Of course, few follow through with a move north. Maybe it is time to reconsider."
Canada gets special mention for avoiding the banking meltdown and good economic performance.
Such rankings are easy to criticize. For instance, Canada gets top marks for freedom -- odd in a country where you can easily get a marijuana joint in most big cities, but not a private MRI scan; the health care sector remains hopelessly overregulated.
Still Canada does well. It's a marked contrast from just a few years ago, when the country seemed on the cusp of falling apart, literally in the wake of Quebec's separatist ambitions (falling just 10,000 votes shy of secession in a 1995 referendum).
Some of Canada's success can be tied to good fortune. Commodities are booming, and Canada is rich in many natural resources (within 10 years, it could be the second largest oil producing nation in the world). And in this recession, as in the early 1980s, and unlike the 1930s, a barrel of oil continues to fetch a good price.
But not all of this is luck. At a time of bad public policy, Canadians remain calm and reasonable. Taxes are coming down and public spending has been relatively restrained. After all, Canada isn't the United States.
Will it continue? Canada's manufacturing is hot because of exports to the United States -- how long will Americans buy Canadian made cars if their economic woes continue? Commodities trade high -- how much longer before Asia catches the American flu? On the day that Forbes chose to highlight Canada, its dollar fell to the lowest level in a year, rocked by international economic instability. But compared to many other countries, these are (relatively) good worries to have.
After all, it's Canada's One Bloor moment - a time of wealth and exuberance.
This article was originally posted on FrumForum.com.
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Obama held a drilling moratorium & is too raise TAXES & America's economy? Not good. Thanks dems for your attack on the oil industry, now we import more from Canada & they have what could be US jobs & wealth.
Gratzner, if the comments are anything to go by, continues to understand the simple rules that Canadian healthcare follows. You get in based upon availability, immediate need, and ability to travel just like you do in an ER. ER's work, so does our healthcare system.
To continue even further you actually can get a private MRI in Canada and when you go get one you likely are getting one that's from a private organization. The difference between the US and Canada? The US restricts access by charged price and Canada restricts access by actual need and availability. Why can we afford to do it in this more humane and free way? Because Health Canada pays for all MRI's.
If Gratzner really wants to make Canadian healthcare better than maybe instead of trying to sell a product that doesn't work for the majority of Americans he should lobby the government to spend more on healthcare. Otherwise he just comes across as another ambulance chaser trying to make an extra buck off of human misery.
Steve Jobs is the most recent example. Sure he should have the freedom to spend all the money he wants on his own health, but it offered little and does nothing but drive up the cost for everyone else.
Gratzer of course does not share that the public/private model in the United States has more medical error, higher administration costs and their healthcare system costs 16% of GDP compared to Canadas 12%.
Dont be scared that because a doctor says we need private care that we do. He is self interested to make more money. YOUR MONEY.
Kill, boil, package and sell the poor for a tidy profit is what a poor sick person can look forward to under US health care. When the US values a human life more than a human dollar, the dream of liberty might be restored.
Until then, don't have a heart attack or a liver transplant - if you do, sell your house and go beg under the bridge. That's US health care. Canada got it right.
What? Are you a shill for America's health insurance industry? Privatized heath-care is for the wealthy who can afford to pay for specialized treatments without having to get in line with everyone else. The expansion of private clinics will just slowly eat away at the universal healthcare system, sapping it of professionals when it already has a difficult time filling its requirements.
For those of you who have the financial ability to pay to jump ahead in the line... you already have this ability,when the wealthy don't want to wait they hop a plane to the US. Keep your greedy hands OFF public health care richers
Canada's entire economy is inextricably linked to the State's. IF the US tumbles, so will Canada.
Now, the nay-sayers will say "asia". But asia consumes a fraction of what America does, and their economy is also being propped-up by a housing bubble.
So how do you explain Canada not tumbling while the US economy is in freefall?
You see, Canada's economy is inextricably linked to the well-being of the US. As the US falls, so do Canadian exports to the US, which Canada is absolutely dependent upon.
Yes, Canada's banking system is in much better shape that the State's. But that is just one tiny piece of the picture. As long as Canada's most significant trading partner is faltering, so will their exports. Asia is a teeny, tiny fraction of Canadian exports. They will never replace the States. Read what any Canadian economist has to say about the matter.
As for Canada 'not tumbling', that is just not true. ALL world markets are tumbling. Some have further to fall, but all are tumbling to the same low. Canada will not survive unscathed, and to think it can is just Nationalust delusion.
I take exception to teh term "hopelessly".
Why not learn from the 29 countries that have better health care than us?
Why this obsession with the US system every time health care is mentioned?
Pavlov's dog was never this predictable.
This is simply not true (about the MRI scan). It is a lie that is frequently pedaled by commentators keen to disseminate a false and negative image of universal healthcare.
I live in Vancouver and recently needed an MRI. Although in the end I waited for a free MRI from Vancouver coastal health I also investigated the private options available, of which there are many. I also found out that there are various quality of service available and was advised by a specialist, who I paid to see through his private clinic sooner rather than later, which of the service providers could provide the quality of scan I needed. A quick search online for the other major cities in Canada will reveal a large number of private MRI clinics across the country.
He says "in most big cities." And that is true. You can't get a private MRI in places like Winnipeg, Toronto, or out East. But, ya, you can get private scans, particularly on the West Coast and Quebec.
Glad you got the scan you needed. That's what's really important.
I also checked my facts and found that you CAN get a private MRI in 10 out of 10 of Canadas biggest cities, including Winnipeg and Toronto. (So my experience was not unique but the norm)
So I stand by my conclusions.
David Gratzer is a Canadian born Physician and is in a position to know the facts but chooses instead to state information which is very clearly not true in this instance.
If you are interested, a quick search online reveals the reasons why he chooses this position and who he is being paid by.
But for now, let's enjoy it. There's jobs in Alberta for those willing to move.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576357373661248928.html