Toronto Region Board of Trade says Francis, Pupatello 'dynamic duo'

Windsor's mayor and its head of the economic development corporation claim Windsor is in better shape than it has been in years.

That's why Mayor Eddie Francis and Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation CEO Sandra Pupatello told the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Thursday.

During his speech, Francis stressed how Windsor has cut taxes and reduced its debt.

The mayor claimed private investors have poured billions of dollars into the area.

"I talked about the difficult decisions that we made during the economic recession, some of the investments we have made in our infrastructure, leveraging our critical assets and talked about how, as a result of that effort,  we've made and we've repositioned Windsor to be an affordable attractive community of choice."

Pupatello said Detroit, for example, has watched as private investors have bought up buildings of later. Locally, she said between 2003 and 2011, private investor spent $3.5 billion in her former riding of Windsor West.

Carol Wilding, president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade called Francis "a champion of economic development."

"Windsor is quite literally booming. There was a clear, clear vision of where the mayor wants to take Windsor," Wilding said. "It wasn’t just telling a story, they had an awful lot of data to support it."

Wilding said Francis presented "a tremendous amount of data and opportunities."

Francis was joined in Toronto by Pupatello, a former Ontario cabinet minister.

Wilding called them "a dynamic duo."

They spoke to more than 200 people at a sold out lunch that included business leaders from a variety of sectors.

Pupatello said many business leaders in Toronto assume Windsor is in the same position as Detroit, which has filed for bankruptcy. She said that is simply not the case.

Pupatello and Francis also met with the editorial boards at the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.

Francis said the trip to Toronto was "positive:"

"It gave a lot of us the opportunity to tell our story, gave us the chance to really position our city and region post-recession, share some of the success we've enjoyed and talk about the significance of our community, and the role our community plays, in the 401 corridor economy," Francis said.

"They really made the case for the entire 401 corridor," Wilding said. "There’s a mutual benefit in the success of both our regions."