Public Art in Ottawa is a Competitive Advantage, Not Just a “Nice-to-Have”

Culture and community build long-term prosperity.

The National Capital Commission’s public art installation “When the Rubber Hits the Road”

Easy target

People like Councillor David Brown will say that there is never enough money in a City budget for public art; that there are higher operational priorities for our tax dollars.

Put aside for a minute that Brown recently voted to spend half a billion dollars on what is effectively corporate welfare for some of the richest developers in Ottawa, aka Lansdowne 2.0.

Art is important for art’s sake. But Brown and other self-styled fiscal hawks need to understand that public art is also important for economic development and prosperity.

Let’s start with the recent departure of one of Ottawa’s most prominent tech executives and what this says about considering public art a “nice-to-have”.

Why Harley left town

Last summer, Shopify President Harley Finkelstein relocated from Ottawa to Montreal. An interview around the time of his move is telling:

While Finkelstein says he and his wife enjoy living in Ottawa, they always felt like something was missing. “As we began to think about where we wanted to raise our four- and seven-year-old daughters it became clear that it wasn’t there.”

Finkelstein says three cities made the Top Three as possibilities on their list. … “Ultimately, Montreal won. And it won for two main reasons: culture and community.” … If you see a city with a disproportionate number of artists, musicians and chefs that’s probably a city with great culture.

Finkelstein says Montreal is the perfect city for those who have business in their blood and believes the city’s immigrants have a lot to do with that. “I don’t think there’s any city in the world that is more entrepreneurial than Montreal.”

For Finkelstein, Ottawa falls short on culture.

Businesses go where the top talent wants to be. And that talent wants to be in the most interesting cities. Culture, including public art, is what makes cities stand out.

Austin TX, for example, leveraged its music culture to become the fastest growing tech centre in America.

The role of City Hall in creating wealth

Cities have limited tax powers to attract business investment. Federal and provincial governments, not cities, are in charge of the corporate income tax breaks that businesses seek. Cities can provide property tax relief, although the jury is out on whether this attracts investment or just provides someone with a sweetheart deal.

Cities support wealth creation first and foremost by making themselves great and interesting places to live. Quality of life is a competitive advantage for cities, starting with housing affordability and the ease of getting around. Once those criteria are met, a vibrant culture and a sense of community is what separates great cities from the merely good.

Back to Ottawa

Brown is upset that the City of Ottawa spent $26m on public art over 7 years. That works out to less than $4m a year, or 0.1% of the annual budget.

Given his concern for fiscal discipline, perhaps Brown should start looking at the other 99.9% of the annual budget. Or the half billion dollar corporate handout he supports.