The City of Greater Sudbury may not be the greatest, but it is better than average, according to Maclean’s magazine.
In a first-of-its-kind survey published in this week’s Maclean’s, the magazine reported on how well or poorly Canadian cities measure up. Sudbury ranked 13th of 31 Canadian cities. The survey looked at the efficiency and the effectiveness of city services.
“I wasn’t surprised because I always felt we run an excellent ship here,” said Sudbury mayor John Rodriguez.
“I think anytime you can place 13th best run city in Canada it speaks volumes of the people who deliver the services at the grassroots, it speaks tons about the people who direct the workforce and the administrative staff who carry out the decisions of council,” Rodriguez said. “I think it speaks volumes of the decision making of council. I’m very proud of 13th place and placing in the top well-run cities.”
While Rodriguez called the ranking a feather in Sudbury’s cap, the mayor believes the city could rank even higher.
“We’re not satisfied with 13th place,” he said. “I’ve been coaching all kinds of sports for a long time, so I know that you strive to be No.1 and you shouldn’t be satisfied with mediocrity. I want us to move up to No. 1.”
To take over top spot, Rodriguez said Sudbury has to continue to diversify its economic base, continue to attract retail development and build the commercial and industrial sector to generate money for the services people demand.
Maclean’s commissioned the Halifax-based Atlantic Institute for Market Studies to compile the survey.
“They had done a very similar study looking at Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,” said Sarmishta Subramanian, Maclean’s editor. “We were kind of amazed that there wasn’t anything similar like this for Canada nationally.”