Over the last number of months there has been a lot of interest expressed across the community about how best we can manage our community’s economic development effort. Some of it focuses on mechanisms like KEDCO, or on infrastructure and other ways the city can support economic development. It is clearly a top priority among…
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The federal election is now well underway and I want to see important local issues front and centre to ensure our community’s key priorities that requiring federal partnership can be achieved. Over the last several weeks I have reached out to all local candidates in both the Kingston and the Islands and Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston ridings, the…
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Over the last year Kingstonians have raised an increasing number of questions and concerns about KEDCO, Kingston’s economic development agency. Concerns and questions have centered on a lack of transparency to the public, a call for more accountability to council and taxpayers, and how KEDCO compares to economic development agencies in other cities. My position on…
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Check out the latest version of From the Mayor’s Chair, where I break down the decisions of Council in three minutes or less. The September 15 edition includes; KEDCO’s presentation to Council outlining their review process that will begin this fall and invite public input and suggestions, the discussion on providing low income residents more affordable…
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Over the last week I’ve received many phone calls and emails from residents and groups across Kingston asking about what we can do as a community to respond to the Syrian refugee crisis. While this is certainly a national issue, in my view this is one of those times where we can think globally but…
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In order to realize our vision of making Kingston a smart and livable 21st century city, Council has developed a new 3 year strategic plan. Our strategic priorities create a proactive framework to make real, positive changes to move our community forward. Through this plan we are going to stimulate job creation, invest…
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Check out the latest version of From the Mayor’s Chair, where I break down the latest decisions of Council. The September 1 edition includes; the decision to allow demolition of 101-109 Princess Street (the future home of the Scotiabank Regional Banking Centre), an update on the progress of the airport expansion and an invitation for…
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One of the most interesting items on our September 1 City Council agenda is a proposal for a new Scotiabank Regional Banking Centre at the corner of Princess and Wellington Streets. If you are trying to picture this location in your mind, it is currently three vacant store fronts –a rather sad sight in our vibrant downtown.…
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Today I am very pleased to welcome Portuguese manufacturing company Frulact to Kingston – and yes, this is the big announcement I was referring to the media a few weeks back. Frulact is a food processing company that specializes in the production of fruit based products. I am delighted that they have chosen Kingston as…
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This weekend I will be heading to the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Niagara Falls. This annual gathering provides a great opportunity for elected officials from cities and towns across Ontario to hear from the provincial parties and to discuss key issues with provincial government ministers. For my first trip to…
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