Cultivating creativity in the countryside – from rural Ontario to PyeongChang, Korea
During the week of October 19th I was honored to give a seminar at the Academy of Korean Studies on the rural creative economies in Prince Edward County and Muskoka. … Continue reading
Research on the impact of Nortel’s demise on the Ottawa-Gatineau ICT cluster
On August 21, 2015 along with my colleague from University College Dublin, Dieter Kogler, I presented preliminary research on the impact of Nortel’s demise on the Ottawa-Gatineau ICT cluster at … Continue reading
Main Street LRT will help preserve Brampton’s heritage, not destroy it
I grew up in Brampton not far from Main Street where the new LRT is proposed to be built. As the fifth generation of my family to live in Brampton … Continue reading
Migration and increasing inequality
Balancing economic growth between regions can be tricky business. Local trajectories have a great deal to do with momentum and thus can be difficult to alter. Inter-regional migration is a dynamic that tends to … Continue reading
Education and inequality between Canadian cities
The widely accepted growth model for developed countries in the 21st century is about achieving advantage based on creativity, innovation and knowledge. In a global economic system cost cannot be the main … Continue reading
Where to draw the line on inequality?
Inequality has re-emerged in the public discourse after a long hiatus. Massive structural changes in the economy to a more global knowledge-based system has disrupted previous sources of prosperity and … Continue reading
ANALYSIS – Ontario’s Urban Election
If “all politics are local” and “its about the economy, stupid”, then elections are about economic geography. The Ontario election last week was no exception. The Liberal Party won a … Continue reading
OPINION – Ontario’s Urban Election
Ontario is a province divided. Yesterday’s election underscores very real and troubling schisms between local communities. While much of the election narrative focused on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and … Continue reading
The Sociocultural Dynamics of Creativity and Innovation
Executive Summary Innovation is key to Ontario’s future economic prosperity and competitiveness. The province’s innovative capacity is based on the skills and talents of its workers. The purpose of this … Continue reading
Benchmarking Canadian Cities in North America
In 2012 Consider Canada commissioned Local IDEAs to produce a benchmarking system for their 11 city-regions. The purpose was to identify the North American cities with the most similar economic … Continue reading
City-region Profiles
This post provides links to data profiles of Canadian city-regions. These profiles were produced for the Innovation System Research Network’s (ISRN) five-year study (2006 – 2010) of Creativity and Innovation … Continue reading
The Creative Economy in Muskoka
Executive Summary Over the past decade, urban and rural communities in Canada and around the world have begun to encourage a creative economy as a mechanism to use local assets … Continue reading
Impact of the Arts in Huntsville
Executive Summary This report argues that arts & culture should be placed at the centre of economic development strategy for The Town Huntsville. While the direct impact of the arts … Continue reading
Local IDEAs 
Is the Toronto area ready for renewed regional governance?
Below is an except from an op-ed I wrote for the Toronto Star’s special edition on innovation. A recent article in The New York Times praised the former Metro … Continue reading →