Mayor McFarlane's 2006 State of the City Address
The following is an excerpt from Saint John Mayor Norman McFarlane's State of the City Address, delivered Jan. 17, 2006. The Human Development Council figures prominently in the City's True Growth Strategy and it's commitment to reduce poverty.
True Growth: As I've said, True Growth is ultimately about attracting people to our community and in 2006 nothing will be more important. Saint John now has an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent. This is record breaking news and presents us with a new challenge - work force shortages. I've heard this everywhere - in IT companies, trucking companies and throughout the trades, Saint John needs more people. Overcoming this growth-related challenge cannot be done without repatriation, retaining and creating a positive environment for immigration.To that end, continuing to engage our youth with initiatives like Fusion and the Human Development Council's Youth Cabinet will guide us to ensure that as a community we are developing the policies and infrastructure to retain many of our young people and our future leaders in our city.In 2006, through the efforts of our economic development arm, Enterprise Saint John and its partners, we will be developing and launching several 'made in Saint John' initiatives to attract new and former residents back to our community ensuring we have the labour force numbers so that we can continue to grow our city.
Social Development: I've said all along that the city has a leadership role to play in social development. With prosperity all around us, a poverty rate that drops from 29 per cent to 25 per cent is still unacceptable.We heard just last week at BCAPI's annual dinner about our community's many innovative projects, including Vibrant Communities, and the Human Development Council which are making a real difference combating unacceptable rates of poverty and developing more affordable housing. In a prosperous community this is only socially responsible.
True Growth: As I've said, True Growth is ultimately about attracting people to our community and in 2006 nothing will be more important. Saint John now has an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent. This is record breaking news and presents us with a new challenge - work force shortages. I've heard this everywhere - in IT companies, trucking companies and throughout the trades, Saint John needs more people. Overcoming this growth-related challenge cannot be done without repatriation, retaining and creating a positive environment for immigration.To that end, continuing to engage our youth with initiatives like Fusion and the Human Development Council's Youth Cabinet will guide us to ensure that as a community we are developing the policies and infrastructure to retain many of our young people and our future leaders in our city.In 2006, through the efforts of our economic development arm, Enterprise Saint John and its partners, we will be developing and launching several 'made in Saint John' initiatives to attract new and former residents back to our community ensuring we have the labour force numbers so that we can continue to grow our city.
Social Development: I've said all along that the city has a leadership role to play in social development. With prosperity all around us, a poverty rate that drops from 29 per cent to 25 per cent is still unacceptable.We heard just last week at BCAPI's annual dinner about our community's many innovative projects, including Vibrant Communities, and the Human Development Council which are making a real difference combating unacceptable rates of poverty and developing more affordable housing. In a prosperous community this is only socially responsible.
posted by Administrator at 11:02 a.m.
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