Ottawa Business Journal
Published: Monday, November 19, 2007

Uncomfortably comfortable in the nation's capital

Before a recent networking dinner, the customary self-introductions went around the table and I presented myself as a wannabe journalist and recovering political staffer. In the absence of the predictability of a bi-weekly paystub, it seemed to be the most comfortable self-moniker.

Since departing the mayor's office, networking has been paramount on this scribe/consultant/job hunter's agenda. It's a cathartic and comfortable activity and I've noticed that among the key business and community leaders with whom I've met, comfortable is probably the most common adjective to describe their comportment. This is not a pejorative observation, but an observation nonetheless.

As a government town - and let's not kid ourselves: when we combine the feds, the city, our hospitals, our schools and other para-public institutions, and suppliers who do a plurality if not majority of their business with government - perhaps being comfortable is inevitable.

OBJ editor Leo Valiquette has made similar observations in recent editorials that bemoan a seemingly institutional complacency in the public service and a lack of a critical mass of serial entrepreneurs to spur our non-government regional economy. But what the hay, we're comfortable.

On a positive note, senior executives around the city have told me that attracting folks back to Ottawa, after stints in Toronto, Montreal or Calgary, is usually easy due to the comfort level they have with Ottawa. We experience big-city volume, not big-city traffic, the city is relatively safe, schools are good, health care is top-notch and housing is mostly affordable. In a word, Ottawa is comfortable.

As a consequence, these comfort levels beget deeper community roots, which results in increased community participation, which in turn manifests through greater charitable involvement, coaching sports teams, volunteer activity and mentoring, just to name a few examples of how we collectively give back.

Moreover, our comfortable comportment is advantageous in terms of networking and the ethical conduct which is mutually self-assured in our business dealings with each other. Attend any Chamber of Commerce function, OCRI event, hospital fundraising dinner or OBJ Mayor's Breakfast series event, and it is almost guaranteed you will know several folks with whom you have done, are doing, or will do business.

It's the same in the construction, real estate, lobbying, political, public service and media sectors; everybody knows everybody. Ottawa is indeed the world's largest urban village. We continually cross the same political, business and community bridges in this city like no other in the country, and to be fair, it is a comfortable and trusting environment in which we can conduct business and create wealth.

However, is this palpable level of "comfortableness" (is that a word?) a growing source of competitive disadvantage for us as a city? And if so, why does this not make us extremely uncomfortable?

Are we comfortable with the apparent lack of a co-ordinated branding/trustmark exercise for this city and region? Are we comfortable with the fact that the renewal of the Congress Centre may yet again result in failure if all funding partners do not come to the table? Are we comfortable with the fact that areas of our ByWard Market now rival downtown Vancouver's east side for brazen crack and crystal meth dealing, abuse and slow death? Are we comfortable that city council is moving at snail's pace in addressing the key infrastructure of downtown congestion, which results in a domino effect of traffic issues across the region?

Admittedly, this is a brief list of difficult issues where conclusive answers are not immediately self-evident. Lack of action and progress on some of these key files should make local business leaders extremely uncomfortable and ideally, lead them to express this discomfort in a fact-based manner.

To be fair, the present levels of business involvement in local community affairs are laudable. Yet it is this author's assertion that our broad business community - both formal organizations and our key CEOs and opinion leaders - has abdicated its historic leadership role in framing these issues, leading and opining eloquently in the ensuring debates and finally acting as a catalyst and at times a funder to pull governments and the community at large to the proverbial table where sustainable solutions are created and implemented.

It is a universal truth that positive personal growth - whether it is physical, mental or spiritual - only occurs when we push the envelope and move out of our safe zones of comfortableness. It is no different for a business that looks to explore new markets or bolster the bottom line. It is no different for a government that seeks to serve citizens better. And it is no different for the third sector when it seeks to fill societal gaps and alleviate human suffering.

Across Canada and in key U.S. cities with whom we compete for job investments, venture capital placement and in the competitive field of destination marketing, business organizations and leaders have said a resounding "no" to being comfortable and stepped up to lead community debates and initiatives.

Our city needs and deserves an even greater and more engaged level of private-sector entrepreneurial leadership to tackle pressing societal and public policy questions like those posited earlier in this column. No doubt there will be those who are uncomfortable and even disagree with this idea and my opinion, but somebody's gotta say it.

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Walter Robinson is the former chief of staff to the Mayor Larry O'Brien and past federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He is presently looking for his next former occupation.