October 1, 2024
The Empire Club of Canada Presents
Jordan Bitove’s City Report Card: Toronto’s High Marks, Failing Grades, and Areas for Improvement
Chairperson: Jenna Donelson, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Moderator
Amber Kanwar, Anchor, BNN Bloomberg
Distinguished Guest Speaker
Jordan Bitove, Publisher, Toronto Star; CEO, NordStar
Head Table Guests
Noble Chummar, Deputy Managing Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell
Welcome Address by Jenna Donelson, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Empire Club of Canada. My name is Jenna Donelson, and I have the pleasure of serving as chair of this historic organization, and your host for today’s event.
To formally begin, I want to acknowledge that we are gathering on the Traditional and Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit and the homelands of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. We were all given an opportunity to recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation yesterday, and I encourage everyone to continue to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you live and work.
I also want to recognize some important dignitaries in the room. We have with us David Peterson, Ontario’s 20th Premier. And I know we have a number of councillors in the room, as well. Welcome.
It’s the start of a new season, here at the Empire Club, and this year’s theme is Leading the Change, and it couldn’t be more fitting. Since 1903, the Empire Club has been a forum where some of Canada’s most influential voices gather to discuss the pressing issues of the day. Our legacy is built on having important, sometimes uncomfortable conversations about politics, the economy, public policy, and like today, the cities we live in. But here’s what I love about the Empire Club. These conversations aren’t just abstract; they’re tied to action. This is a place where we hear ideas that can shape the trajectory of our provinces, our country, and, yes, our cities. We bring together leaders, innovators, trailblazers, and all sorts of different walks of life, not just to talk about change, but to figure out how to make it happen.
And it’s not just the conversations that we hear from the podium that are consequential. Look around you. This room is filled with passionate people, city builders, entrepreneurs, leaders and representatives from the institutions, businesses, and organizations that make our city great, who have the power together, to make it even better. Because this is an important one. It’s about our city. We all want this city to work. Because even though it’s full of contradictions, and traffic, and rising costs, we all know there is no place more diverse, more vibrant, or more energetic. And when you love something, it’s important to be honest about what’s working, what isn’t, and hear critical insights into how we can improve. These aren’t always easy conversations, but they are necessary, if we want to build a better Toronto, one that works for all of us. And it’s for that reason, I’m so glad we have Jordan Bitove here, to deliver his report card for the city, and Amber Kanwar to take us even deeper.
Before we dive in, as a non-profit organization, we would like to recognize our sponsors, who generously support the club, and make these events possible, and online viewing complimentary. Thank you to our Lead Sponsor, Cassels Brock & Blackwell. And thank you to our VIP Reception Sponsor, Norton Rose Fulbright. Thank you, as well, to our Lead Season Sponsors, Bruce Power, Hydro One, and to our VIP Reception Season Sponsor, Waste Connections of Canada. And finally, thank you to our Print Media Sponsor—or excuse me, our Print Media Partner, The Toronto Star.
If you have a question for our speakers, please scan the QR code found in your program, or if you’re online, use the Q&A function, please. For those of you who are online, if you require technical assistance, use the chat button that you’ll see on the right-hand side.
To kick off this afternoon, I have the great pleasure of introducing Noble Chummar, Deputy Managing Partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell. Noble brings incredible expertise to his role, particularly, in government relations. He advises clients across diverse sectors, from energy, infrastructure, and real estate development, to banking and tech. He’s often called upon by CEOs and corporations, to help out with crisis strategy and urgent government negotiations. But he is also someone who dedicates an incredible amount of his time to the things he loves, and to giving others a hand up. I know this firsthand, because Noble has been a mentor of mine, and I know I’m not the only one. So, it is with great pleasure that I welcome to the stage Noble Chummar.
Introduction by Noble Chummar, Deputy Managing Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell
Good afternoon, everyone. It’s my great honour to introduce our guest speaker today. But before I do, I want to say a few words about how at home I feel at this podium. About 10 years ago, I was the president of the Empire Club, and I had the honour of introducing so many distinguished Canadians. But today, it feels a bit different, because I get to introduce my friend. And many people in this room, and many people at the head table are my friends, and people I’ve known a very long time. I’m honoured to be here, and we’re all present here today, to hear from our friend Jordan, who just happens to be one of Canada’s most impressive business leaders. Our moderator is also like family to me—I was at her wedding. She’s someone who I’ve seen emerge as a major player in business journalism. Amber Kanwar is Canada’s leading and influential business journalist, who’s had the chance to interview the world’s business elite. David Peterson, who’s been, David Peterson, who’s been introduced, happens to be, he calls me his illegitimate son. He’s. he’s really been a role model to me, over the years. And I’ve had the honour of walking in his footsteps for the past 25 years, so thank you, David. Jenna Donelson, thank you so much, for your warm welcome.
I consider our guest speaker to be a dear friend. He has shown all of us how business success and public service go hand-in-hand. He knows that caring about communities, our fellow citizens, and people from every walk of life, is an absolute obligation of Corporate Canada. Jordan understands the importance of how cities play such a crucial role in the health of our communities, our economy and to the vitality of our citizenship. Jordan’s distinguished career is at the forefront of Canadian business. It includes ownership of 80 newspapers, technology, real estate, hospitality, natural resources, and distribution companies. He’s the founder of a company called Great Moments in Catering, which became Canada’s largest privately-held event catering company. And as a leader in the sports industry, Jordan helped launch the Toronto Raptors, Toronto’s first basketball team, the first NBA franchise awarded outside the United States. And he was part of the ownership consortium that built the Skydome, now the Rogers Centre. He also helped orchestrate Toronto’s bid for the 2008 Olympics, along with Bob Richardson, who’s also here. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sick Kids Foundation, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto International Film Festival, of Western University, and is on the Canadian Advisory Board to Right to Play. He has the Order of Ontario, and received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for his philanthropic work.
While the Toronto Star is a private enterprise, Jordan treats his newspaper like a public asset. He’s keenly aware that his newspaper belongs to all of us. He understands the importance of responsible journalism, and its role in our democracy. And I can think of no better person to be the custodian of the Toronto Star than Jordan Bitove, and his family. And today, in his capacity as owner and publisher of the Toronto Star, Jordan will take us through his analysis and assessment of how we are doing as a city, and what he thinks we are doing right, and areas that we might need to improve. It’s our report card. The job of the health and vibrancy of our city is not only the responsibility of our politicians, but in fact, it’s our responsibility, collectively. So, it’s report card day, everyone. And on behalf of my partners at Cassels, the Head Table, and the Empire Club of Canada, please join me in welcoming Jordan Bitove to the stage.
Jordan Bitove, Publisher, Toronto Star; CEO, NordStar
I have to admit, I’ve watched that video 25 times, and it pumps me up. So, it reminds me why we’re all here today, when you see the incredible visual images of Toronto. Noble, Jenna, thank you. And thank you, everyone, for being here today. I started out with that video, first and foremost, because I love the city. Right now, in many areas, we are indeed the best in the world. I suspect you all join me in wanting to be the best city in the world. And right now, we’re falling short in key areas.
When I was growing up, the city proudly held the moniker of Toronto the Good. Back then, it meant a safe city, where crime was among the lowest in the world, you seldom saw people living on the street, we were envied for a public transportation system that was efficient, clean, and safe. Traffic was predictable. You could have a breakfast, and be at your office by 9 a.m.; you could leave work at 5, and be home for dinner. I guess you could say, we were boring. But I think everyone in this room would take a little dash at boring, if it could solve the issues of our city today. By the same token, I don’t think you should tolerate that good is good enough. We want to be more than good, more than great. We want to be the best in the world. To be the best, we need a sober reflection on what is working, what is not working, where we are falling short, and where we are exceeding.
Now, I’m a competitive person, ask my brothers, who are here today—I’m, like, the youngest of five kids, by the way—I like to keep score, and I want to improve. So, I decided to score Toronto, at this point in time, and I want to share my report card on the city with you. Looking objectively at Toronto, and scoring how we fare, is an exercise not too far removed from report card day at home. As a proud father of four, I’ve been through more than a few reviews, and the emotions run the gamut. Excitement, pride, anxiety, and yes, sometimes, even disappointment. What’s key about report cards is they are a marker for progress, and they open the door to bigger conversations, whether it’s with my kids, or in this case, with you and our others, who care and have a stake in our city.
It’s in that spirit that I approach our conversation today. The report card for Toronto is a score based on input from Toronto Star readers, our editorial board, and my personal perspectives. It considers what we see, through the work of our newsroom, and what we believe is important to the people, and future of this incredible city. I believe that everyone here appreciates that by looking honestly at our challenges, we can ensure Toronto’s not only a world-class city, but one of the best cities in the world. Like it is with my family, the marks we see today open the door to more discussion, and serve as a call to action. To look at our priorities and push ourselves, our leaders, our peers, and officials to do better, and hold one another to account. And it is my intention to revisit these grades a year from now, to see if we are holding up to our aspirations.
So, let’s start. Diversity. A. We are a centre of global knowledge and talent. Over 250 ethnicities and 190 languages are represented in the Toronto region. And anyone who enjoys the city’s world-class culinary scene or cultural festivals understands firsthand the spoils of this incredible tapestry. Toronto’s motto is Diversity Our Strength. And in important ways, this is absolutely true. By many measures, the city is the most diverse on earth, yielding profound benefits, both financial and cultural. Amazon, for instance, cited Toronto’s extraordinary diversity as a competitive advantage, when it announced its massive expansion of its Toronto headquarters. Of course, harmony is not always easy. And The Star must continue to be a leader in promoting the benefits of diversity, and rejecting all kinds of hate. It means we can’t shy away from the tension in our city. We are heartbroken about the humanitarian atrocities in Gaza, and our Jewish community is facing appalling anti-Semitism. We need to talk about it. We need to feel safe, in the city that we live in. Thank you. Our diversity is one of Toronto’s greatest gifts. It is proof that amid all the tension, what unites us is far greater than what divides us.
Economic opportunity. A-. Toronto is increasingly seen as a land of opportunity, drawing top talent from around the world. We are a city of aspiration, a place to live and grow with global appeal. One recent study from Mercer Consulting, which ranked cities based on political stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and social and cultural environment, listed Toronto as one of the most attractive cities in the world to workers. Another showed that Toronto is home to more tech talent than any city outside of Seattle, New York, or Silicon Valley. That means more opportunity is on the horizon. That said, to make the most of this promise, we have to make sure we don’t blow it. Toronto will need to do much more to fix its crumbling infrastructure, ease traffic, ensure that the opportunity to spread across the city’s vast geography. And The Star will be pushing to ensure just that. Because this A-could be a C, if we don’t. The Mercer study placed Toronto as the 17th most attractive city to workers in the world. And now I ask you all, is that good enough? Our goal should be the best. We want to own the podium, not just be a runner up in it.
Higher education and innovation. A B+. Our success in diversity and economic opportunity are inextricably linked to our first-class status in higher education, research, and innovation. Look at the University of Toronto, look at Hospital Row, look at Mars Discovery District, look at the flourishing tech entrepreneurship in the city. We are the beneficiaries of virtuous cycle, and top talent creating top institutions, which in turn are drawing top talent. Just coming out of TIFF, it’s worth noting that Sheridan and Seneca are producing high talent, talent that is in demand, high-tech talent that’s in demand. Not that our top-notch colleges and universities aren’t without their challenges. The Star will continue to report on the financial strain these institutions are under and the cultural upheaval dividing campuses, as well as how these threats can be managed to preserve our advantage.
Culture and entertainment. A-. Whatever your preferences, whether you’re a sports fan or a lover of the arts, Toronto is undeniably among the world’s capitals of culture and entertainment. We have a world-class culinary scene, a thriving theatre scene, a diverse music scene, a great orchestra, a brilliant ballet, and an abundance of pro sports teams. We’ve got a new stadium going in at Downsview, a rework at Massey Hall, the ROM has a huge reno coming, and of course, Taylor Swift, practically setting up residency here for a week. I can’t wait to see what those hundreds of thousands of Swifties do, to boost our economy next month. So, why an A-, instead of an A+? Well, as our recent series, The Beaten Path showed, our sports teams sure could do better. I might not be objective about the Raptors, and I’m excited about the coaching and building around Scotty Barnes, but in the absence of an ability to balance the scoring and depth on the team at both ends, I need to give my beloved Raptors a C-. Plus, as our editorial board has often pointed out in recent years, as we sink deeper into affordability crisis, we run the risk of making our cultural life unaffordable to many, while driving out the artists who do so much to make our city what it is. These are issues we’ll continue to watch, as we seek to protect one of the city’s greatest assets.
Public transit. B-. Toronto’s public transit is a source of constant frustration for those struggling to traverse a city that is famously difficult to navigate. Many Torontonians know the pain of waiting for buses that never arrive, or streetcars endlessly caught in traffic. But while we are way behind much of Europe and Asia in the funding and efficiency of our system, it is worth remembering that we are also well ahead of most North American cities, as we continue to expand routes and arms, whether it’s the UP Express or approval of the Ontario Line. That’s far from an argument for complacency, mind you. Our paper has long said the city’s transit is not good enough, and have pushed for better, and we will continue to do so. Whether it’s a safety issue of poor or no Wi-Fi underground, or the ongoing delay of the LRT construction, we are on it. At a time when traffic has become a threat, both to the future of the planet and to the livability of our city, a B- for public transit isn’t good enough.
Crime and safety. B-. It goes without saying, but I will say it, every person in our city should feel safe in their neighbourhood, on our streets, and in their homes. The crime rate is below the provincial and national averages, which themselves are relatively low, but generic crime rates often obscure troubling trends in specific parts of the city. And over the last decade, the rate of violent crime has increased, while the rate of car theft has grown out of control—I guess I should ask for a show of hands, but I’m not going to; I did that once before. Meanwhile, the parallel mental health and addiction crisis, compounded by the pandemic, have increasingly spilled out onto the streets, exposing gaps in our social safety nets, and contributing to a sense of unease in many Toronto neighbourhoods. We should be grateful for our relatively low crime, but too many things are moving in the wrong direction. The Star will keep an eye on our eroding sense of security, holding to account leaders who point to a history of success as a justification for complacency. I’m proud of our newsroom’s approach to crime coverage. Their instinct to go beyond sensational headlines to explore the root causes of violence. I know I was personally moved and outraged at the recent investigation by Jennifer Pagliaro and Wendy Gillis that revealed the systemic failings that led to the death of a four-year-old Nevea, whose body was found in a Rosedale dumpster.
And while policing could be a separate subject, I’ll speak briefly about it, here. Now, this is a difficult moment for policing in our city. As a kid, I was in awe of our police. I trusted them to protect me, and keep the community safe. I know now that I was fortunate to have that perspective. Many others felt, and still feel differently, because of their own interaction with officers. My admiration for the men and women who work for the police service remains. Being a cop is a tough job, but it’s clear there’s a need for change. It’s time for us all to expect transparency and accountability from the police, and as the demands of our city change, we must ensure that police officers have the resources and training they need to respond appropriately, particularly, as it relates to addiction and mental health. All communities deserve to feel protected.
Healthcare. B-. Our identity as Canadians is tied up with our healthcare system. A recent survey asked Canadians, what is our equivalent of American as apple pie? And their answer, as Canadian as universal healthcare. Many of us know people who’ve dealt with cancer, or recovered from a stroke, where they’ve received outstanding care ,at hardly any cost to the family or individual. We get global recognition for our level of care with SickKids, which is the number two paediatric hospital in the world. Toronto General is ranked in the top three in the world. Sunnybrook and St. Mike’s are now accredited Level One trauma centres. We’re excellent, when it comes to innovation, and the really hard stuff. Yet for a variety of reasons, our reporters are working hard to investigate and explain the different ways our healthcare system isn’t working as it should. It is not equal to everyone across the city. Yes, Torontonians benefit from some world-class expertise at several top hospitals, but as we all know, access to care, both in the emergency room and from family doctors, is quickly becoming a crisis for individuals, and for the collective well-being of the city. This includes the supports needed for people who are in mental health or addiction crisis. Healthcare is a defining issue for Torontonians and for The Star. We have dedicated health reporters. Many of you will know of Moira Welsh’s award-winning series, The Third Act, where we keep tabs on care for aging population, presenting solutions. Our team worked with the investigative journalism bureau last December, revealing troubling information from patient survey data. Reporter Kenyon Wallace recently joined our business team, with the first beat of its kind in Canada, exploring the growing privatization of healthcare. And this is all work that’s ongoing, exposing where we have gaps, and proposing solutions to move forward.
Infrastructure. D. A world-class city shouldn’t be falling apart, yet as The Star’s excellent City Hall Bureau Chief, Ben Spurr, has reported, Toronto needs to find an additional $26 million over the next decade, just to keep much of the infrastructure in its current dilapidated condition. Of course, that money will be hard to come by. Toronto is the economic engine for this country, and we have to be innovative, to extract major new infrastructure investments from higher orders of government. Now, I think a great example of that was most recently between the mayor and the premier, on the offloading of the Gardiner, and the billions of dollars that has saved the City. That was collaboration, that was a made-in-Toronto solution, and we need more of that. Now, we have a serious problem, when the major arteries of our downtown core can’t manage rainfall, or are not climate-resilient enough to handle extreme weather. The impacts aren’t just flooded streets, but the damage to buildings, homes, and sadly, maybe even a loss of life.
We have one of the worst-performing airports in the world. J.D. Power put Pearson at the second-worst, in their North American Satisfaction Survey. That’s embarrassing, when you think of the 50 million people passing through there each year. Now, as a side note, I don’t know if any of you have been through LaGuardia lately. It was perpetually rated as one of the worst airports in the world. I flew through there a week ago, and I have to say, it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at an airport, to the point where now, the local folks are now coming to the airport to dine, because the quality of food service, and the surroundings is so good there. That’s what we should strive for.
But back to us, unless something changes, transit, public housing, parks, and libraries, will continue to crumble. Look at the endless delays and cost overruns, on big construction projects like the Eglinton Crosstown LRT—try not to laugh. Years behind, and no accountability. Important parts of the city aren’t working, and the political will to fix them is lacking. That is an issue we intend to push hard on, in the coming year. Let’s be accountable. Find out where the responsibility lies, and hold people to their promises. Get them to own and remedy the problems. We have to get through less red tape, and move faster and thoughtfully, to fix what’s broken, and work proactively for our future.
Traffic, our favourite subject here, amongst many. We probably should have called this the movement of people, because our traffic situation is much more complex than vehicles and roadways. People are moving around the city on transit, which I touched on earlier. Our buses and streetcars, particularly, are routinely blocked by trucks, and cars, and delivery vehicles. We have lanes closed all over, for condo and office construction, including on main arteries, which appear not to have any strategic rationale. Who would plan to close University down to one lane, the first week back at school, when we’re all returning to our jobs? I ask you. I’m confident that everyone in this room has endured the frustrating, maddening, day-ruining experience of being caught in the city’s absurd and punishing gridlock. Witness this morning the lane reductions from condo construction, delivery vehicles, cars, bikes, buses, pedestrians all struggling to move around. This is more than just a traffic issue. It’s an economic issue, a safety issue, an environmental issue, and it’s a mobility issue, with no central coordination, or so it seems. We need new ideas, and a new approach. Last week, we published Brad Bradford’s excellent piece—Brad’s here, somewhere, in the room—excellent op-ed, that called for a traffic czar, to oversee all traffic in the city. I know our readers greatly appreciated his thoughtfulness to this issue. We had a great response from it. Thank you.
Many of you likely heard Will Ferrell’s remarks, when he was here for TIFF Festival, last month. If LA congestion is something to aspire to, that’s really the pinnacle of awful, isn’t it? A recent study found that Toronto is the third-worst city in the world, in terms of traffic. I repeat, the third-worst city in the world. The solutions are complex, from better city planning to cultural shifts, and how we get along, but they could hardly be more urgently needed. We need a thoughtful and coordinated approach. It’s time to take action, and deal with this head on.
Now, the Star will be a leading voice in the coming year on investigating the roots of our traffic crisis, and the solutions that are to be offered. Our editorial board will provide a path to becoming unstuck. We will be unrelenting in our coverage on traffic as we are on our streets.
Housing affordability, an F. According to a recent study by Demographia International, Toronto is among the worst cities in the world for housing affordability. That’ll come as no surprise to any of you, but it’s hard to overstate how bad it has become, or how important it is that we fix it. Housing affordability has profound implications for the future of this city. From who gets to live where, to the shape of our politics. It is the biggest, not the only part of a larger affordability crisis that includes skyrocketing food prices, and other cost of living increases, that have outpaced wage growth. It also, inseparable, it’s also inseparable from the crisis of homelessness and drug use, and the other social challenges that are changing the face of our city, and weigh on our collective conscience. We’re a city dotted by encampments on the ground, and cranes in the sky. Yet as we create inventory, we are still not housing people. They can’t afford what we’re building. What is the disconnect? There is no consensus on the solutions, or on the share of responsibility. What is clear is that successive governments of every stripe, at every level, have failed to address homelessness. We can’t afford to keep failing on this. And I promise, that will motivate our journalism in the year to come, and beyond. I’m grateful for the work of our housing team. Their work on this file will get us all closer to moving the needle here.
Now, as I said, there is much to celebrate in our city, and a lot of room to dream big. My goal for The Star in the months and years ahead is to continue to reflect these realities, good and bad, and to always push for better. The video up front was a tribute to everything we are. We are one of the greatest cities in the world, with the potential to be right at the top. And I think we should all strive for that. Whether it’s winning the bid to host the World Cup, or being a global destination for innovation, we are worthy of recognition, worthy of pride, and it’s definitely worthwhile to help our city, and citizens, improve and grow. I want you to know you can count on me, and the Toronto Star, to do all that we can. Our editorial board will continue to weigh in on the most pressing issues facing our city. And the newsroom, under the leadership of our new editor-in-chief, Nicole McIntyre, who’s here today, will continue a legacy of journalism that has shaped the city for the better. Our reporters and editors—I call them the unsung heroes of the city—are committed to doing their best to provide unbiased, fact-based reporting to cover the tough issues, uncover the truth, to celebrate and highlight our city’s greatness, and bring forward balanced perspectives, so that you can develop your own report cards, and stimulate informed conversations.
Now, one more grade, before I close. I’d be remiss if I did not score the collective investment in Canadian journalism, and I’ve got to give it a D-. If you care about the work that we and other local news outlets do, the stories we tell, the information we provide, you can bump this grade. Subscribe, share, advertise, encourage the people around you to do the same.
In closing, I love our city, and I want to do all that I can, working with people like you in this room, to ensure that Toronto is the best place in the world for our children and their children. So, no matter where they may go in this great world, it will be proud that Toronto will always be home. I want to also thank the mayor; there are 300 people in this room that clearly care about our city, and want the best for it. And I think every one of them would probably have their hand up, to be able to help. And that’s the spirit and beauty of our great city, is the collaborative, and putting everything behind us, to work together towards a common goal. So, on that note, I invite you all to score the city for yourselves, with the report cards we put out for everyone. And if we miss something, let us know; your feedback will go right to our newsroom. Thank you very much for your time, and I look forward to your questions and comments.
Jenna Donelson
Thank you, Jordan, for those thoughtful remarks, and at times, frank insights. For what it is worth, this may be the only report card I have looked forward to receiving, so thanks for that. And thank you, too, for the work that you and all of your colleagues at the Toronto Star do every day, to keep us informed. We really appreciate that. I now have the privilege of introducing today’s moderator, Amber Kanwar, who you probably know as an anchor at BNN Bloomberg. Amber is an accomplished financial journalist, who has spent the last decade covering markets and the global economy, interviewing some of the most influential leaders in our business, among many other things. She brings a wealth of knowledge to today’s fireside chat, and I know she’ll bring her signature curiosity and thoughtfulness. So, please join me in welcoming to the stage, Amber Kanwar.
Amber Kanwar, Anchor, BNN Bloomberg
Thank you very much, for that warm introduction, and it’s such a pleasure to be here with you, Jordan, who you all know—and me, who I think most of you just Googled, so now you’re up to speed on me. You did a report card on everything related to the city. Let’s do a report card on the Toronto Star. What grade would you give The Star?
Jordan Bitove
Wow, you threw one at me, there. I would give us an A-. I think….
Amber Kanwar
Unbiased.
Jordan Bitove
Okay. I think that where we have come in the last three years, two years, has been remarkable. We’ve relaunched our intern program, we’ve got the incredible, I think, diversity in our newsroom. We’re reporting the stories that Torontonians really care about. We need resources. And a big part of it has also been fixing a broken machine. We all know the history of every news organization. But thanks to great leadership that I have around me with my team, Neil Oliver, my CEO, and others, they fixed a lot of that part of it. And so, what we’ve gotten back to is focusing on journalism—and not that we ever swayed from that. But if I can just add a part to this, what’s fascinating is when, you know, I bought TorStar four years ago. It was a business deal. And I quickly realized how important the Toronto Star was, the 130 years of advocacy, protecting the vulnerable, all these amazing things—I get emotional talking about it—and I realized that I was just here as a custodian, for a very brief amount of time, to protect this amazing asset. My team hasn’t seen me cry, in a long time, so—but the work that our team does, and I always say, and I joked about it, there’s hundreds of do-gooders that are there every day, and they want the best of our city, they want to protect the vulnerable. And so, I realized that very quickly. And I realized, Amber, that great journalism sells. So, if you put out a great product, people will buy it. And as a result of that, our numbers have been up exponentially, on every metric. I say it to folks—and I offer anyone to challenge me on it—we’re probably one of the best-performing news organizations in North America. But my point really on all that is, it’s still not enough. We need government support, and I applaud the province of Ontario, Premier Ford and company, basically stipulated, demanded, enacted that 25% of all media spent through agencies, through ministries, has to go to news organizations. Not to—and that doesn’t matter, if you talk about Conservative or Liberal; that was the right thing to do. And then, you have a government in Ottawa that is tone-deaf to an industry, and who are spending a hundred million dollars with META and Google, and our share of it, as traditional news organizations, less than a million dollars. And it’s appalling. And so, if we want to protect our identity, if we want to protect our children, now’s the time, and so, supporting our industry. So, to bring it all the way back to it, the A- can be an A+. We need support, we need subscribers, we need people in this room to take action on it.
Amber Kanwar
That’s, I mean, clearly you can see your passion, so I want to bring it back to the point that you said it started out as a business.
Jordan Bitove
Yeah.
Amber Kanwar
Is it becoming a passion project, at the expense of…
Jordan Bitove
No.
Amber Kanwar
…getting a solid return on investment?
Jordan Bitove
And you’re a business reporter, you know this. At the end of the day, the goal has been to make it profitable. Because how do—I don’t want to be the guy that folded the Toronto Star, and the 79 other publications. If anything, I want to be, with my team, the person that turned it around, and showed the world how this little publication in Toronto can get it right. And so, the passion is the passion in terms of the journalism, but there’s a passion—I look around the room, and I see my team here. And the passion that they have, whether it’s on the sales side, whether it’s on the cost cutting, running it as a proper business. I mean, you have to remember that these news organizations were Goliaths, at one point in time. We were charging $30,000 for an ad in the Star, and we told you where we were going to place it for you. Well, today, you know, you can negotiate. You can, it’s not quite $30,000, but the dynamics have changed, and so, we have to be responsive. And I think that what, you know, I see Frank Leo out here, who’s one of our biggest advertisers, and just to point him out, I asked him one time very early on, I think he was one of the first lunch I had ,when I bought it. And I said, “How important is our advertising to you?” And he said, “It’s the reason I’m the largest agent in the country.” And so, you know, I thank him for that.
Amber Kanwar
And is that enough without, because you also called for government support.
Jordan Bitove
Yeah.
Amber Kanwar
You know, can an industry thrive? Can this industry, can newspapers thrive without government support?
Jordan Bitove
You definitely need a level of government support. The federal government enacted a beneficial tax. It took years of us sort of lobbying as a group. And so, there’s a tax, there are tax advantages now, to us, with the journalists. They put in Bill C-18, which is that Google—wasn’t nearly enough, but it was a start. And so, you needed that. You know, I reflect on our music industry. I mean, you heard The Wknd, here, we talked about Drake, and all the other great artists that have come. There’s a reason why Canada is envied in the world, as one of the great music creators. And it was because we had the CRTC. We had funds that were put in place to fund Canadian artists, and allowed them to be competitive on the global stage. And we see it now. We see it now, how well our musicians and artists are doing on the global stage. And so, I think that that, the government has to play a role in it. Corporations have to step up. They have to step up. Because what’s happening is….
Amber Kanwar
What does that look like? What is stepping up….
Jordan Bitove
What’s happening is a media buyer, a 25-year-old media buyer—and no disrespect, it’s easier to say I’m going to buy Google, and Meta, and all these other things, because they’re going to wine and dine me, they’re going to show me all the metrics on it. And what I show, whether it’s the Prime Minister, a CEO of RBC, or whatever, when they come into our newsroom, and I show them our data boards. And I show them those are real people, that are engaged for two minutes, five minutes. That’s not clickbait. Those are real people, and they’re reading it, and they trust our publications, because of what our journalists do day in and day out.
Amber Kanwar
So, the survival of, and the thriving of Toronto Star, goes hand-in-hand with these strategic priorities, which is why I wanted to start there. Because you look around at the media landscape, and let’s just stick with print, survival is far from a sure thing, from a number of outlets. How do you feel about the Star, and its ability to survive, now that you’re a couple of years into this?
Jordan Bitove
I think the future is very, very bright. I think that we’ve been, not for any other reason but hard work. And that was the journalists, and the editors, and what they’re putting out every day, and the fact that people will pay for it. I look at the business side of the business, where our sales team have dug in hard, and are getting very innovative on programming, and things that we can do. I’m bullish on the future of our business. I’ve seen the potential, but I’ve spent a lot of time in Washington, when Marty Baron was running it, when A.G. Solberg, who’s the publisher of the New York Times, talked to them, both of them, and they gave me the playbook. And the playbook is exactly what we’re executing, digital. So, our digital numbers are exponentially growing by thousands, every month, and that’s great. We protected every print, I talked a little bit about that, but our print subscriber, it’s remarkable, actually, how we’ve been able to hang on to all of our print subscribers. And they’re loyal. And they buy the products that the advertisers. And by the way, I remind politicians, I remind business leaders, those are the people that make a decision on what home a kid, the downpayment for their home, buy them their first car, what charity they’re going to donate. And we’ve forgotten about that, because some 25-year-old, or some American tech company has convinced them that that’s a better way to go.
Amber Kanwar
And these topics that engagement speaks to, you’ve got to be talking about issues that Torontonians care about. And that’s kind of the crux of what you came to talk about today. Anybody, you don’t have to look at stats. You can just be a long-time resident of the city, and know that it’s different. Some things are very challenging. You mentioned homelessness, you mentioned issues like crime, and transit, and traffic. But sometimes we don’t necessarily get an acknowledgement of that, to your point of what we’re seeing in government. How are readers engaging with that kind of content? Are you finding that they’re hungry for it? And are you, at The Star, kind of directing these strategic priorities?
Jordan Bitove
I think that, like a lot of news organizations, we had lost our way. I think that we weren’t giving our readers what they wanted. We weren’t necessarily focusing on the social issues. And I can just tell you that in, you know, in the last couple of years—but I’ll take the last four months as a proxy for it, with Nicole McIntyre, our new editor-in-chief, remarkable. We won the Mishner Award, Pulitzer of Canada, for our incredible work on the Green Belt, where our team exposed what was really going on with the Green Belt. I talked about Nivea, and being found in the dumpster. And that sat, sadly, in a police file, and it wasn’t until Wendy and Jennifer dug in on it, and accessed the information and exposed it. And what it’s shown is that there is a complete flaw in Social Services, that a child fell in the cracks through it ,and tragically lost their life. I mean, I could go on and on and on, but I think that that’s the gist of it.
Amber Kanwar
You know, I do come from the business world. So, looking at a lot of these problems, many would say the solution is, you know, more public-private partnerships, talking about healthcare, kind of slaughtering that sacred cow, and talking about how private can be a solution to some of the challenges, when it comes to access. And I think about The Star as traditionally left-leaning, and maybe being hostile to some of those ideas. Is that the right perception for me to have? Is that changing?
Jordan Bitove
Fascinating. Great question. I will say this to you. What became very apparent was, when I talk about that period where we had lost our way and you know, a new CEO, who was telecom world, and thought that we were selling cell phones, and whatever else. And so, we lost the importance of the good journalism that we were producing. And so, really through that, what we realized, again, was, produce great journalism. It sells. People will buy it. Give me the back end of the question, again.
Amber Kanwar
Basically, is The Star experiencing an ideological shift?
Jordan Bitove
Right. Okay, on the political side. Sorry. So, where I was going with that was, so we’ve had for decades a team of data folks, that do research. And they poll our thousands, every week thousands of readers on editorial, on advertising, on everything. That’s the treasure trove of information. And sadly, during that time, we kind of said, “We’re not going to pay attention to the data. What our readers want.” And so, I sat down with our team, and….
Amber Kanwar
That’s wild.
Jordan Bitove
It’s bizarre. But again, it’s just the dysfunction of the industry, and everything else, in a perfect storm that was kind of going on. And for nobody’s fault, things were going so quickly off the side of the cliff. And so, what we did was we sat down with our editorial team. We said, “This is actually where our readers are. They’re not way over here. They’re actually a little bit left-of-centre, and that’s where the bulk of Canadians are. Absolutely. Can we publish something over here, or something over here?” And we should. Because that’s been a goal. Bring independence, bring balance to our news. And so, to answer your question, I think I’m hoping everyone has noticed the quality of the work that our team is doing is incredible. And that’s not to say that people like Rosie DiManno, who is here today—and by the way, Rosie is being inducted in the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, and one of our national treasures; I saw her, when I was walking around. Or Kevin Donahan, or others; I could go on and on and on. It’s not to diminish the work that they were doing. They were producing incredible journalism. But the rest of it wasn’t following the playbook, which was giving our readers what they wanted, in tackling those tough subjects.
Amber Kanwar
This will be my final question, before I open it up. And as a reminder, you can submit your question digitally, somehow, on the pamphlet. If you listened to the instructions—it should be self-evident, from the brochure. And those questions are coming in. My final question is, are the results at the Star replicable? Is this some secret sauce, that you’ve stumbled upon? Or is this something others in other media industries can do, as well?
Jordan Bitove
Another great question. I haven’t actually thought about that, but I will say this to you: I think, you know—I apologize for my getting emotional, there—but I think that what we have, and I feel it every day when I walk in the office, and I walk through the halls. And you’re all invited, by the way—whoever wants to come and see our new offices, because they really are something that we are extremely proud of. The data, the team, the way we collaborate and work together. And I think that what has to happen, Amber, is that you have to kind of check your ego, and understand that we’re not who we were 100 years ago. We’re not GM selling, you know, at one point in time, I think we were over 2 million print subscribers of single copies a day. We’re not GM, but maybe we’re Porsche, or maybe we’re BMW. And maybe that’s not the right connotation. But focus on a segment that are, that want unbiased coverage, that want great journalism, and they’ll pay for it. And we’ve seen that happen. And so, I just say, like, check your ego. If I was to sit down with any other news organization—and I’ve had this conversation with others, and they ask me, “Why are you guys doing so well?” Well, we have the intestinal fortitude to do the cuts that others haven’t been able to do. And we did it with dignity, and respect, and humility, the way we did it. We tried to. But make those hard cuts, produce great journalism, and then just work your butts off.
Amber Kanwar
What was the response from the newsroom to that approach? Had they been kind of waiting for somebody to get out of their way, and let them do what they think they wanted to do? Or was it hard to get the newsroom unstuck from a certain position?
Jordan Bitove
I think there was probably a ton of skepticism of me, and my motive. I’m sure they all thought I was some private equity guy, who was going to come and dismantle and cut. And as I say to my team all the time, look at the body of work. I think that every day, when I’ve walked in there, it’s been about what else can we do? You know, Nicole and I talk a lot about it. I talk to all my team about it. When there are resources and we can justify it, we do the right thing, and we hire them. And moving Kenyon into that beat. The Toronto—our program with interns was the, basically, the breeding ground for a lot of the great journalists, and then we had killed it. And I resurrected it. And that costs us millions of dollars. But every year we get ten or so amazing kids that want to be journalists, and we give them this opportunity to do it. And so, it’s been amazing from that perspective.
QUESTION & ANSWER
Amber Kanwar
We are getting some questions from the floor. The first one is on the environment. There was nothing in the Toronto report card about the environment. How would you rate Toronto, and its response to climate change?
Jordan Bitove
I think climate change is always, you go to any editorial meeting, and it’s always the biggest, always in the top three to five, I would say. But unfortunately, like I could have gone on about a hundred other topics that are in here—and as you saw, we put things together in here, policing with crime, and other things. I think climate, we will continue to do what we do. But I think what we have to do right now is focus on getting our city functioning. And I have a lot of faith that the advocates for climate change, for our newsroom that do cover it, that we will make sure that that’s being protected, as we do everything else.
Amber Kanwar
This is an interesting question, it’s very topical right now. With the state of need for federal government financial support, it raises the issue of bias. How can you ensure that journalists maintain independence, in their coverage of federal political leaders?
Jordan Bitove
Well, we’ve got an amazing Ottawa bureau with Susan Delacarde, Althea Raj Tanda and company, and goes on and on and on. They’ve been doing it for a long time, and they’re very well-respected, because they have been unbiased, I think. And maybe some people say, well, they’re left, or whatever. I walk in, and Jordan Himmelfarb, who was our political editor, and now is handling opinion, we’ve had a number of conversations. And the goal is always just provide readers a great perspective on it, and hold those into account. Because the question came up, we had a bank line put in by one of the banks, and, well, are you going to give that bank favourable coverage? No. No. We will call it out, for what it is.
Amber Kanwar
And you never feel pressure…
Jordan Bitove
Never.
Amber Kanwar
…it’s never in the back of your mind.
Jordan Bitove
Never. Never feel pressure. As a matter of fact, I think, you know, again, the body of work was four years of history, and I think our team would tell you—have there been times when I’ve said, get a better source for this, or whatever, but that’s rare. Because our team do such a great job, I don’t need to.
Amber Kanwar
We have a question, what’s the best part or surprise about becoming the publisher of the Toronto Star, that we wouldn’t know?
Jordan Bitove
That my daughter just got an A+ on a, on a journalism project, her first one at university, and she interned with us, and got a great perspective—okay, joke. I think that the best part of it is being able to have this kind of conversation, being able to have a group like this in a room, and be able to try and offer a plan to get our city back on its feet. Because I’d love, in five years from now, three years from now, us all to be back in this room and go, you know what, we heard it first there, and the journalists at The Star delivered on their end, the politicians delivered on their end, Corporate Canada delivered on their end, and we fixed the city. Because we can.
Amber Kanwar
You think?
Jordan Bitove
I think we can, a hundred percent. I think we just, we have been, it’s been a perfect storm, between COVID, this amazing growth of our city, short-term focus of politicians, who are looking at their term, and not looking at a 10-year or 20-year horizon to fix infrastructure. I say this one all the time, I go, what did we learn from SARS?
Amber Kanwar
What?
Jordan Bitove
Nothing. Because if we did, we would have been the best-equipped city, country in the world with PPE, and all the measures. But instead, COVID happens, and we’re a complete laughing stock of the world. Okay? The waterways, the flooding and everything that happened right now, what did we learn from that? Well, we learned, yeah, there’s some issues, whatever. But what’s going to happen is, it will happen again, and it will obliterate the city, at some point in time. Businesses will be wiped out, there may be a loss of human life. And we’re going to say, well, what did we learn from that flood in 2024? So, I think being at the top of the pyramid—or maybe, I’m at the bottom of it—and just being able to make sure that our team, and they don’t really need it because they’re so good, but make sure that our team are focused on these issues day in and day out is the most rewarding part of the whole thing.
Amber Kanwar
I’ll ask you just one more, I think we have time for one more, about our favourite topic, which is gridlock. You mentioned the Eglinton LRT, which…
Jordan Bitove
Yeah.
Amber Kanwar
…when’s that gonna open? Do you know? Okay, well, hopefully before whatever they’re doing on Queen Street. And this question was about this idea about a 401 tunnel. Innovation or insanity?
Jordan Bitove
Listen, I’m, we published an opinion piece that said it’s a distraction, and all these other things. Maybe it is. But something has to change, it’s untenable. And whether, you know, I travelled to Boston a number of times, when the big dig was going on, and it was a disaster. But now you go to Boston, and they built the tunnels, and they built everything else, and the city functions amazingly well. I don’t know whether it’s a tunnel underground, a tunnel, a bridge, some other form, another highway, putting a toll, taking a toll off, HOV lanes, whatever it is. It’s just, we have to have these conversations, and we have to get really smart people in the room, and we’ve got to check egos, and just be able to agree on it. Because I’ve sat down with—I’ll say this one last thing, fascinating. We’re watching this whole affordability and housing crisis, and everything going on, and I’ve sat down with some really considerate, socially-minded developers, Mitchell Cohen at Daniels, and others, and you see what Daniels did at Regent Park, right? A very bad area, part of town and fixed it up. There are a lot of people like that, that have their hand up and want to help, but no one’s accepting their help. And for some reason we think that we’ve got to have a group of people—and the last one I’ll just reference is, our office is at Front and Wellington, and we watch the gridlock every day. It’s a disaster there. And so, I’m, one day, I finally asked one of my team, I said, “What is going on between the ramp onto the Gardiner, and Spadina?” Three days later, I get the answer. Well, it turns out that the Gardiner is controlled by separate people, and—at least at this point in time it was, a few months ago—and the city traffic folks control it. So, there was no coordination of effort. It’s a very simple thing to fix, right? And then they throw buses on there, because the streetcars aren’t working, and the buses take an hour-and-a-half to go what used to take ten minutes. No one thought of putting an HOV lane in for a bus, or temporarily restricting any sort of pulling cars stopping during rush hour, or anything. So, there’s like a flaw, in the way of thinking.
But I’m bullish on that, you know, I was hoping the mayor was going to be here today, but I’m hoping that she, the message gets back to her. There are other councillors that are here, and others that are very interested, and MPs. But most importantly, there’s 300 people here that care about this city, and you have a vote. You have the means to be able to affect change.
Amber Kanwar
We’ll go and write about it to your councillors, after this luncheon. Thank you so much, Jordan, for your time, and your insights, and your thoughts.
Note of Appreciation and Concluding Remarks by Jenna Donelson
Thanks, Amber, for that conversation. Of course, thank you once again, Jordan, for your passion and your great words. I’m going to invite you both to take your seats, and take the opportunity to thank you one more time for that. Thanks, as well, to the hard work of the Empire Club staff, for continuing to make the Empire Club the place where important conversations like this happen. I’d also like to recognize the students and young leaders we have in the room—I think we have a table of students from Humber Polytechnic. Thank you for being here. You are all an important part of our community, in helping us advance public dialogue on topics that matter.
Finally, a little bit of news from us. As today’s event reminded us, for 121 years, the Empire Club has been at the heart of important discussions about Toronto. So, I’m thrilled to share that on November 21, Mayor Chow will be joining us in dedicating a new City of Toronto historical plaque, recognizing the Empire Club. We’ll be unveiling it—thank you—at the site of our first meeting, Webb’s Restaurant, which you all now know as One King West. So, if you find yourself on the corner, the southwest corner of King and Yonge, look for our plaque, and see a little reminder of our long history, which you all are now a part of.
As a closing reminder, if you’re interested in our upcoming events, please subscribe to our mailing list, and visit our website for more events like this one, that we have coming up—you’ve seen a number of them on our screen. As a club of record, all Empire Club events are available to watch and listen to on our website, and the recording of this event will be available shortly.
So, with that, I want to thank you all for joining us today. I hope we see you again soon. Have a great afternoon. This meeting is now adjourned.
