Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for coming this afternoon. Linda and Victor, thank you very much for your friendship over the years and for the kind and generous words of introduction.
Calgary is a special place for each and every one of us. It is one of the best – if not the best – in Canada….In Canada – the best country on the planet.
Calgarians have to sometimes step back and remind ourselves what a wonderful and special privilege it is, that we find ourselves living together in this community.
I’ve always believed that blessings bring responsibilities. We have to wisely use the gifts, the talents, the opportunities we’ve been given. They are always entrusted to us for something greater than ourselves.
With that as the context, I’m here today to simply say … Calgary, I have decided to run, and would be deeply honoured if you choose me to serve, as your next Mayor.
Before undertaking any venture, it is always a good idea to start with the end in mind: So….What is the essential purpose of a community? ….. And what does it mean to govern one?
There are at least 4 key elements:
A community exists to help its residents find economic opportunity and meet basic needs. Our Mayor and Council must attend to our economic prospects.
A community exists to nurture the soul and inspire creativity. Our Mayor and Council must welcome and celebrate the creative spark in everything – from business, to communities, to the arts.
A community depends on the contribution and gifts of every person. Our Mayor and Council must lead the creation of an inclusive and caring community.
A healthy and resilient community uses resources wisely. It respects the air, water, land and energy upon which its well being depends. Our Mayor and Council must help our city become sustainable in every sense: environmentally, socially and economically.
To lead Calgary to be the best that it can be, our Mayor and Council must, without fail, do all these things … and do them well.
A city that’s great for everyone….
That’s the community Calgary can become. That is the community it should always be.
Calgary expects more from its leaders than clichés or idle rhetoric. These words have to have substance. Here’s a glimpse of what those ideas mean:
To quote the International Economic Development Council: World class communities are not determined by geographic location or the size of their population. They are not determined by the availability of natural resources. World class cities are determined by the mind-set and quality of their local leadership in addressing change and progress.
In other words, great cities have leaders with open minds…. who are not afraid to explore new ways of doing things.
The first thing our next Mayor and Council must do is build a stronger partnership with our community to address Calgary’s changing economic circumstances.
In the past two years, we have been buffeted by global economic turbulence. Unemployment is higher than we are used to – especially for our youth, our young people. Growth has slowed. People are anxious about our future.
Research tells us that more than 3 out of every 4 jobs in a local economy are created by existing businesses.
Our economic development strategy has to be built with community partners focused on local job growth – a community economic development strategy built on community economic strengths.
Let’s get everyone around the table to figure out the solutions. And plug into Calgary’s “can do” attitude.
Calgary will need its Mayor and Council to work collaboratively. A Mayor and Council who can bring people together.
What else do we need for Calgary to stay competitive?
Well, I think we should find out.
Let’s review our competitiveness and benchmark ourselves against the best.
The City of Calgary needs to review how our quality of life, our regulatory processes, and our policies, could better support job creation and the kind of investment we need and want. Even how well we move goods and services around our city is a competitive issue.
Now, I realize in proposing a competiveness review, people may jump to the conclusion I’m talking about cutting property taxes and levels of service. I need to be very clear on this point.
The City has to balance its books as carefully as we have to balance our budgets at home. How else will we be able to provide quality public services over the long term?
The City has to continually show value and fiscal responsibility for the public funds it spends.
Everyone, including the City of Calgary must live within their means. We must make sure we keep the tax burden affordable for everyone, including business.
But, spending money on good public services can also help us save money. And cutting quality public services can be fiscally irresponsible.
Think of how much all of us would have saved earlier this winter, if Council had budgeted more money for snow removal. We could have avoided a lot of grief and inconvenience…. and expense.
It was too bad that City Council turned down my motion in 2007 to put more money in the snow removal base budget.
Another example: The downtown provides approximately 40% of The City’s tax revenues. A vibrant, prosperous downtown is highly dependent on good public services like transit, Police, and By-law enforcement. These public services are essential. Yes. But they also influence the city’s economic well being.
Still another example: ENMAX is about to open Phase 1 of a new district energy centre in downtown Calgary. (I toiled 7 years by the way, to get that project to happen.) This new service can help building owners in downtown Calgary save on their operating costs. And because district energy provides huge improvements in energy efficiency, it will also help customers avoid the future environmental regulatory costs that we know are coming. District energy, developed by ENMAX in the public interest, now gives Calgary downtown business a further competitive advantage.
By the way, that would never have happened if City Council had sold ENMAX in 2001. It’s another one of the public purposes served by keeping that company for Calgarians.
The competitiveness review I’m suggesting should be comprehensive. Calgary needs a Mayor who is open to exploring all the innovative ways we can keep Calgary competitive. Our Mayor needs to have more than one tool in the tool box.
And Calgary needs a Mayor who is not going to sell ENMAX. We need to keep ENMAX city owned. We need ENMAX as a partner that continues to bring our community economic and environmental benefits!
What else does Calgary need to help it meet its essential purpose?
This is Environment Week. Calgarians are coming to realize that we have to be much more careful and responsible in our use of energy, water and land.
This is one reason our new curb side blue box program has been very popular with Calgarians.
The City of Calgary, with its partner ENMAX, has shown great leadership on energy. It is now the largest customer of green, renewable energy in Canada.
And as your Mayor, I will continue to be absolutely committed to help our community leave a smaller ecological footprint.
That means encouraging the construction of more homes like the one we are in today.
This house is a high-performance home built by an emerging Calgary development company called Jigsaw Homes.
It incorporates numerous technologies to reduce energy consumption and improve environmental impacts.
Jigsaw is trying to figure out how to incorporate these concepts into homes of all sizes in the residential market. And they don’t want their customers to pay any extra premiums for it – compared to conventional construction.
They want to make environmental sustainability attainable for every Calgarian.
That’s a wonderful vision. If builders like Jig Saw can succeed with it, they can help Calgary achieve its important goals as well.
The City needs to encourage developers and builders like this. The City needs to reduce the barriers to building homes that adopt state-of-the-art innovations and minimize our environmental footprint.
Environmental sustainability has to be a key component of our community led Economic Development Strategy.
So how will we knit a community focus, a competitiveness review, and green jobs together? How will we integrate them into a meaningful direction and help Calgary achieve its purpose and full potential over the long term?
Beginning in November of this year, if I am your Mayor, I will launch a series of facilitated community conversations on Calgary’s future using these principles as the framework.
We will collect the intelligence, insights and recommendations of Calgarians in meetings from all across the city. They will also be drawn together using social media, crowd sourcing and other internet tools.
It will all culminate in a Summit on Calgary’s Future in June of 2011. This will be in time for the recommendations and directions coming from this process to be reviewed and incorporated in the next City of Calgary Three-Year Budget Plan.
There will be other priorities that I will want to highlight in the campaign to come. There is not time today to do anything more than mention what some of them will be:
A great community is a safe community. City Council needs to assure Calgarians that safety remains a top priority and receives the attention it deserves. We need a Safe Community Strategy.
A great city cares about all its citizens. It is inclusive and provides the means for all to contribute.
For Calgary to be a city that’s great for everyone, it must always have safe and affordable housing choices for people of all incomes and means.
Housing must be a cornerstone of the new relationship The City of Calgary needs to establish with the Province.
And speaking of a new relationship with the Province – a great city also has the resources it needs to achieve its essential purpose. That is why a new relationship with the province is imperative.
It is a relationship that needs to be marked by mutual respect – order of government to order of government.
Calgary will need a permanent extension of the Municipal Sustainability program for infrastructure funding. In order to finance growth, our city has to find reliable, ongoing revenues. We will not be able to meet our community’s current needs without it.
Achieving these objectives, realizing this vision, won’t be easy. I am going to ask every Calgarian who cares about our community to pitch in and help.
At the moment, many Calgarians are feeling ignored, overlooked, and taken for granted. They feel disconnected from the rapid changes Calgary has experienced in the past decade.
Mayor and Council have done the right thing and are on the right track by building the hard infrastructure that growth demanded. We must turn our attention to the social contract with our citizens.
It’s time we addressed the social infrastructure of our community.
Calgarians want their leaders to listen. But more, they want to be involved in creating our common future. Ultimately, that is what makes a community great for everyone. It becomes great for people when they have a part to play, and can help determine the outcomes.
Throughout my career as an alderman, MLA and community activist in this city, I have worked not only for, but with people, to achieve goals together.
It’s a track record of results that I would like to continue.
Calgary, it would be an honour to serve with you, and for you, as your Mayor.
I welcome the opportunity to help build together, a city that’s great for everyone.