Week in Review - January 21, 2016
January 21, 2016
Last week, Mayor Iveson returned from an eight-day mission to Asia where he strengthened Edmonton’s overseas relationships and promoted our city as a prime investment location. One of the highlights of the trip was signing an agreement with the City of Lichuan (located in China’s Hubei province) to help them develop a waste management facility of their own using Edmonton’s expertise in the field. Upon landing back in Edmonton the Mayor took time to detail his international work on his blog page.
At Tuesday’s Executive Committee, the committee received proposed amendments to bylaws outlining parking requirements that would see these requirements reduced for eating and drinking establishments in three pilot areas: 124th Street, Jasper Avenue and Whyte Avenue. Mayor Iveson saw the value in reducing onerous parking requirements for areas that are already on their way to being well-serviced by transit; calling driving to drinking establishments a “20th-century idea”. Concerns that nearby residential neighbourhoods could be used as overflow parking because of these changes meant referral of the proposed bylaw amendments to Administration. A public hearing at City Council will be scheduled in the coming months to examine the updated amendments.
With duties at City Hall wrapped up for the day, the Mayor boarded a plane destined for the nation’s capital where scores of new federal MPs were waiting to hear from him and a host of other public professionals that included political commentator Chantal Herbert and Canadian Chamber of Commerce CEO Perrin Beatty on Wednesday. Carleton University, through their parliamentary and diplomatic engagement initiative, hosts this orientation for newly elected MPs following a federal election. Mayor Iveson was invited to sit on this year’s panel and bring the western perspective to the challenges and opportunities Canada faces on the economic, social and demographic front.
On Thursday, Mayor Iveson was on hand at Edmonton Public Library’s flagship branch in the city’s downtown to help kickoff the City of Learners event and the #3SkillsYEG initiative. Edmonton is a place where people make learning a lifelong journey and are committed to self-improvement - #3SkillsYEG supports this by challenging Edmontonians to learn three new skills and share those experiences in 2016. Mayor Iveson laid out three skills he aims to learn over the next 12 months:
- How to use a 3D printer;
- Learn elements of the Cree language; and,
- How to meditate.
Following his commitment on learning three new skills, the Mayor then made his way to Alberta Venture Magazine Business Person of the Year event where the business community honoured PCL’s Paul Douglas. From building the Edmonton Kaye Clinic, Manulife Place and putting the finishing touches on the new Rogers Place arena in our downtown, Paul Douglas has helped PCL build some of our city’s most prominent structures. The Mayor highlighted PCL as a great Edmonton success story and one that we are all incredibly proud to share.
That wraps up the Mayor’s first week and a bit for 2016. It has been an energetic start! Stay tuned for more weekly additions of the Week in Review blog as we continue to recap Mayor Iveson’s work in and around the City of Edmonton.
For More Information
Mayor Don Iveson
2nd Floor, City Hall
1 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, AB
T5J 2R7
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