Mayor Ed Holder announces unemployment task force during first State of the City address

In his first-ever state of the city address, London Mayor Ed Holder announced the creation of a task force with a goal of lifting 13,000 people out of unemployment.

The city’s unemployment rate at the end of December rose to five per cent, from 4.8-per cent the previous month. That pegs the number of Londoners who aren’t working at 77,000.

“Those people.. have either stopped looking, don’t have the skill set, and don’t know what to do next,” said Holder.

Before an almost-record number of business leaders and community stakeholders Thursday morning, Holder said most of the 9,000 jobs available in London “simply require a good work ethic, and a willingness to learn.”

The task force, dubbed “London Jobs Now,” brings together the London Economic Development Corporation, Western University, Fanshawe College, London Social Services, the London Region Manufacturing Council, Nestle Canada, and London’s Chamber of Commerce.

Holder expects them to report back with specific recommendations to reduce joblessness by the end of April.

“It’s an absolute priority that we do this on the quickest time table possible,” Holder said. “If we’re talking about this two years from now, one year from now, I’ll be terribly disappointed.”

Employing 13,000 people, which Holder said would bring London up to the province’s average unemployment rate for a city of its size, will have positive impact on issues related to housing and London’s “most vulnerable” — which he named as another priority for the next four years alongside transportation, making the city safe, and cutting municipal red tape.

Holder wants to pitch a transportation project that will use several infrastructure elements from a contentious $500-million bus rapid transit plan to the province in 60 days. The mayor also supports efforts by The Police Chiefs of Ontario to reduce the time officers wait in hospital for drug and mental health patients to be admitted, and named an annual street party on Broughdale Avenue near Western University as a “dangerous and disruptive” weekend that should be faced head on.

He also outlined a goal of streamlining the city’s construction permit and approvals process.

Despite identifying a wealth of areas with room for improvement, Holder also reflected on London’s recent success stories. He touted a fire station response time that’s among the best in the country when stacked up against eight comparable cities, Fanshawe’s growth in the downtown core, Tourism London’s successful bid to host The Juno Awards in March, re-opening of the Blackfriars Bridge, and saving lives through the city’s opioid response.

The annual event is a fundraiser for London’s Chamber of Commerce. Organizers said they were one person short of record-breaking attendance this year, compared to the nearly 1,300 people who attended in 2018.

In his closing remarks, Holder unscored the importance of working together.

“My central message is less about what we do, and more about how we do it.”