Today, Mayor O’Brien participated in the flag raising ceremony for Scouts Canada at City Hall as Scouting troupes celebrate Baden Powell Week across Canada. Having been a scout, the Mayor fully supports Scouts Canada and encourages youth across Ottawa and across the country to get involved.
One of the key initiatives for the balance of term of council is an innovative and aggressive Economic Development Strategy for the city.
After public safety and basic municipal services, the sustainable social and economic prosperity of our community is the most important responsibility of municipal government. In Ottawa, our strong public sector employment base alone will not shield us from the global economic restructuring that will follow the recession.
We are entering more than a new decade, we are entering a new economic cycle- one where the knowledge economy will be what creates jobs and prosperity, and where being able to compete globally will be the key to success. This should play to Ottawa’s strengths.
I have instructed City Staff to put a bold new Economic Plan before council this spring. We have no time to lose and everything to gain if we are decisive and agile, which is why we’ve hit the ground running. Guiding this Plan is a Steering Committee made up of some heavy hitters from Ottawa’s business, healthcare, education and government sectors:
Last Friday we had a very successful stakeholders forum where a couple of hundred business and community leaders shared in the beginning of this planning process. Today the Committee is meeting with the Chambers, and tomorrow with the Innovation Leadership Group sponsored by OCRI. Over the next 4 weeks they will be meeting with dozens of other local business and community stakeholder groups.
But we need the input of all citizens, and particularly of the business community, as we move forward. So I want to ask that each of you play your part by logging on to opinionottawa.ca.
There you can learn about the process, download background papers on everything from the knowledge-based economy, to tourism, to the talent crisis to rural infrastructure, and most importantly, you can post your comments and ideas in the discussion forum.
This is our future we are talking about, and is too important a discussion to leave to elected officials and city staff alone.
Ottawa is clearly blessed with the raw ingredients to be Canada’s creative class capital. But what we need is a sense of collective purpose, a sense of destiny and the will to win. So I am counting on your insight, initiative and support through opinionottawa.ca
Lets get it right this time.
Of course a big part of the policy discussion will be how we, within the public purchasing constraints that we face, can do our part to make Ottawa business more successful. Two weeks ago we held an IT Vendors’ Forum where the City’s new CIO Guy Michaud shared his strategy and purchasing plans with local business so that they are in the loop and in sync with city plans.
Today I want to take that to the next level by announcing the creation of a Chief Technology Officer’s Advisory Board to advise the city on an ongoing basis on the leading edge trends and best practices in areas like enterprise applications, telecommunications, social media and on-line business. Rob Collins, who chaired my successful Mayor’s Taskforce on E-Government, has agreed to be the first Advisory Board Chair, and OCRI will work with us to make sure we recruit the best and the brightest from this city’s technology businesses to fill the board.
Ottawa is the most advanced technology cluster in Canada, and I want to make sure that the city does its part by being the most technologically advanced city in North America.
Over the last few years we have begun to build a solid social, environmental and transportation infrastructure for Ottawa’s future. For the balance of this term, and certainly for next term, we have to capitalize on this base, leverage our strengths, and begin to take Ottawa from being a good 20th century city to a great 21st century city.
Today, Mayor O’Brien made a presentation to City Council to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Canadian Navy and to showcase the proud history of the HMCS Ottawa.
Pictures from the event can be found here:
Gallery - Canadian Navy’s 100th Anniversary
As Mayor of the City of Ottawa, I have the privilege of witnessing first hand the work of citizens who are fiercely committed to making our city a better place in which to live.
As a token of recognition for the immense contributions that these individuals have made, I have started to award Agent of Change Coins to deserving members of our community.
Most recently, on February 1st, City of Ottawa Police Chief Vern White was presented with an Agent of Change Coin for his work in establishing the Ottawa Police Service’s Guns & Gangs Unit, which has played a significant role in reducing crime on our city streets.
On January 20th, Agent of Change medallions were presented to the following members of the Mayor’s Taskforces on
(1) Transit & Transportation:
(2) E-Government:
and (3) Governance: