August 1st 2021
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD): Generous Donator, Evil Parasitic
Corporation, or Somewhere in Between?//Blackrock’s coal mining affair


Stories from two of the largest financial institutions in the world...

On TD Bank



The sights of Waterloo park are something to marvel at(1). Though nothing particularly flashy, like a
skyscraper or amusement park, the 111 acre land has a plethora of beautiful areas and artifacts;
animals, playgrounds, trains, a cricket field, and more. Realizing the greatness of the park, and its
importance to the Town of Waterloo, many people and institutions have sought to leave their mark
on it. When entering the northeast side of the park via Central street, you will notice a place that
gets special recognition. Large, brownish, metal beams connecting to one another rest firmly atop
the pedestrian as they enter, surrounded by weeds and flowers on all sides besides the entrance.
















{View from the entrance into Waterloo Park off Central street}

Some would say this structure is a bland, and therefore pointless, addition to the park, and although
it is up to subjective interpretation, I would disagree. I enjoy the elementary architecture and
mathematically simple design.
Walk a little closer to it, and a rock, barely in view from the photo above, becomes more noticeable.
On it, there is writing, describing how the structure came into being. It reads:

WATERLOO PARK CENTRAL STREET ENTRYWAY
This pedestrian entryway and gathering space celebrates Canada’s 150th birthday and was made
possible thanks to the generosity of TD bank group through the TD common ground project




















{A rock that sits on the entrance side beside the metal structure}

What do I make of this?
-
What benevolent generosity! This structure, this area, these moments at the Central street entrance
of Waterloo Park, all made possible by TD bank(2). We must thank them, and worship them, the
Toronto Dominion Bank Group, for making the park that much better and brighter, and while we're
at it, let's shine a light on more of their kind actions. The TD common ground project, which funded
the “Waterloo Park Central Street Entryway”, has done so much more to help improve the lives of
Canadians and world citizens alike. On their website, they discuss and lay out how they are boldly
leading the transition to a green energy economy; planting 285,000 trees since 2010, investing
$10.8 billion into companies with low carbon emissions, and issuing millions of dollars worth of
green bonds meant to stimulate growth in the clean energy sector. To top it all off, they also help
fund food banks and community shelters across Canada. Wow! If TD was running our government,
maybe we would have addressed climate change and poverty by now!

More than energy systems and community works, TD also invests in our culture. Countless festivals
and events, like the TD Kitchener blues fest, are sponsored by the warmhearted, pure motives of the
Bank. Now that I ponder it, not a week goes by where I fail to see something or another sponsored
or financially supported by TD. What would Canada do, what state would Canada be in, if it weren't
for them?
-
What a load of billoni! The big 5 banks, including TD, will do whatever they can to masquerade their
parasitic ways in the form of shiny donations and trendy philanthropism. With the entire financial
system revolving around them, holding 89% of the market share between them, acting as a sort of
money-middleman between government and the people, and being “too big to fail”, it is no wonder
that these corporations can afford to put aside a small fraction of revenue dedicated for satisfying
the local population by doing good deeds. It is genius! Sit firmly atop the economy and society as the
profit collector, taking a cut from almost everything, invest it in the inflated stock market, and have enough money to make shareholders filthy rich, all while on the side, creating the illusion of
friendliness and community, with the knowledge that if the money was to for whatever reason
become more tight, then those philanthropic services would be the first to go. As the saying goes:
When the big five banks do well, so do Canadians

This absolutely begs the question: What happens when they don’t do well? Canada as a
country is in jeopardy if we continue to be so reliant and dependent on the success of these
institutions. As for TD’s fun little play structure in Waterloo park that looks like it was designed by a
preschooler learning rudimentary shapes and buildings - it seems unnecessary, unless the purpose
is to advertise for TD, to put it into the peoples minds that TD is a necessary pillar in the community.
Could it not have been grassland with benches like the rest of the area, or some other style of design
with a small sum of public money put into it?
-
Corporate philanthropy is a particularly interesting and nuanced phenomena in our era. Both of
these fictitious reactions above, both out of a corner of my brain, are too extreme and short sighted
in my view. The compromise is this: TD bank is part of an oligopic banking sector. This does
not mean that the employees working there are parasitic themselves, or even those investing in
them. What it does mean is that they sit in a high class position in Canadian society, and because the
powerful always want to stay in power, they have incentives to do things to entrench their own
position. With profits being healthy, as has been in the case recently, it is a very wise move, to their
credit, to return a fraction of it to the lower esculents of society. Whether that be for health care,
community projects, food, or in parks, these noticeable philanthropic endeavours help to improve
public relations and the image of the company. This is one of the functions of the “Waterloo Park
Central Street Entryway”. Although it is a fine area, and the architecture, in all serious, looks pretty
good, the structure and the rock writing beside it serves as a reminder to us of who is really in
charge, who has the capital, and who we rely on to keep this version of society going.