The Bragging Mayor

A young Mayor from a Midwestern city bordering the Great Lakes was appointed to be a representative to a conference in Canada to discuss the ecological concerns with the Great Lakes.  Upon arriving in Toronto for his first time, the Mayor hailed a cab, jumped in the back seat, and asked the driver to take him to his hotel. 

On the way to his hotel, the cab passed a tall building and the young Mayor asked the driver, "What's that building?"

 

"That's the Royal York Hotel," replied the cabbie.  "The Royal York - wow its pretty big!  How long did it take to build it?" asked the Mayor.

 

"About 5 years, I believe," replied the cabbie.  

 

"5 years?  Why in my city we can build a hotel twice as high as that and we can do it in 10 months."

A little while later the cab passed the Metro - Toronto Convention Centre.  "What's that?"  asked the Mayor.

 

"That's the Metro-Toronto Convention Centre," replied the cabbie.

 

"Convention Centre?  How long did it take to build it?" asked the Mayor.

 

"About three years, I think," replied the cabbie.

 

"Three years?  Why in my city we could build a convention center three times as long and four times as wide as that and we could do it in about four months."

Shortly thereafter the cab came upon the CN Tower.  "What's that?" asked the Mayor, pointing at the tower.

 

"Danged if I know," replied the cab driver.  "It wasn't there this morning when I drove by."