EDMONTON – Edmonton leaders came together Monday morning to discuss the priorities for the city during the upcoming year.
The first Edmonton Building Summit was chaired by Mayor Don Iveson and covered issues like education, business, health care and the need for the city to work with the province during a time of economic and population growth.
Iveson said the summit is critical in outlining Edmonton’s key priorities and underlining to the provincial government what is needed to build the city.
“We all know what it takes to build a city for our province and a greater city for our country, and now it’s time that we heard from each other so that we can understand our points of common pressure and common opportunity,” Iveson said, “and most importantly more effectively support each other in our advocacy.”
Those who attended the event were pleased to have the opportunity to express their views in such a forum.
“What happened today was a remarkable gathering of key Edmonton sectors to learn about each other’s priorities as well as to advocate for Edmonton’s collective needs to maintain its growth as Northern Alberta’s economic engine,” said Brad Ferguson, Edmonton Economic Development president and CEO.
“My colleagues and I are really pleased to have a voice at this summit and help identify the areas that are critical for the Province to support in the upcoming budget,” said Sarah Hoffman, Chair of the Edmonton Public School Board.
Hoffman is calling on the province to support the upcoming budget by investing in school buildings.
“We need to meet the diverse needs of all students. Education is a cornerstone of this united effort to move our city towards a bright future, but we can’t do our work in isolation.”
Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti spoke on behalf of the University of Alberta’s Deans School of Medicine and School of Public Health. He highlighted the importance of prevention.
“Ideally, you want to have the healthiest population that doesn’t need to use the healthcare system,” said Francescutti “By investing in early childhood development, addressing chronic diseases and enabling aging-in-place initiatives founded on broad-based data, Edmonton could be a national leader in health care.”
The priorities highlighted during Monday’s summit will be included in a letter from Mayor Iveson to Premier Jim Prentice as part of the City of Edmonton’s submission to the 2015-16 Alberta government budget consultations.
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