Toronto's business leaders like to think that they are helping to build a great global city, but casino building is city-ruining of the highest order. A downtown casino will tear holes in Toronto's urban fabric, create more costs than benefits, and send the message that Toronto is on the wrong track.

Last Wednesday I gave a talk in Taymouth, the first in a speakers series on charting a sustainable course for economic development in New Brunswick. ...

In this exclusive excerpt for HuffPost from Richard Florida's new book, the author reveals that scientists and engineers, architects and designers, artists and entertainers and the growing ranks of professional knowledge workers -- what he labels as The Creative Class" -- now number more than five million in Canada, or roughly 30 per cent of the workforce. So where do they live?

In a speech recently delivered in Westminster, a UK MP, Chuka Umunna, shook conventional assessments of urban gangs by focusing on the "entrepreneurial zeal" that drives gang members and their illicit activities. In light of the recent Eaton Centre shootings, our Canadian politicians seem to have largely adopted the position that those involved in gangs are hopelessly and permanently corrupted.

A town can try to sell itself on its charm, its appearance, its vaguely beneficial "lifestyle" -- but none of these can compete with the lure of a tax moratorium or free, serviced land; the attractive offers of yesteryear. Is charm worth more to a company than easy access to the transportation network? Or lower taxes? Not likely.