Source: The Canadian Press

Toronto is the Wayne Gretzky of Canada’s financial markets and should be home to a new national securities regulator, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.

Quebec may complain that it would be hurt by the creation of a single regulator, but Toronto is the country’s leader in financial services and is the natural home for the new body, said McGuinty.

“I’m sure that secretly some of Wayne Gretzky’s bench mates complained when he got too much ice time, but the coach kept putting him on the ice because he kept scoring goals,” McGuinty told reporters.

“The leading goal scorer when it comes to banking and financial institutions in this country is Toronto, Ontario. We can do it, and we can do it well for the benefit of the whole team, Canada.”

The Ontario premier wasn’t moved by a study commissioned by a coalition of Quebec’s business leaders, released Monday, which warned the creation of a single securities regulator would threaten thousands of jobs in Quebec.

“I understand they have a different perspective on this in Quebec than the one we have here, but I think ours in Ontario is shared with many other parts of the country,” said McGuinty.

“I think most folks who take a look at this will come to the conclusion that we should just have one body, and it turns out we’re really good at this stuff right here in this city.”

The study prepared by consulting firm Secor said there are 300,000 direct and indirect financial sector jobs in Quebec, about half of those in Montreal.

Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand said Monday that creating a single regulator would immediately shift 500 to 1,000 high-level jobs to Toronto, and would be followed by a gradual move of supporting lawyers, accountants and tax specialists.

Bachand urged Ottawa to back down on its plans just as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he was weeks away from completing the legislation to create the new securities regulator.

“There’s still time for Flaherty and (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper to change their minds,” Bachand said at a news conference.

“What the Quebec business community is telling Ottawa and the rest of the country is that this is not a decision in the interest of the country.”

However, McGuinty said most provinces and territories, and the business community, recognize that having 13 securities regulators instead of just one hurts the country as a whole.

“It’s just a matter of streamlining ourselves and making ourselves more open to investment,” he said.

“We are the third-largest banking centre in North America and our brand has gone platinum globally. I think the most natural place to locate that new office is right here in Toronto, Ontario.”

Canada is the only country in the G20 without a national securities regulator, something Flaherty described Monday as “an international embarrassment” and “the only weakness in the Canadian financial system.”