What flows from a Fountain

On May 14, Fred and Elizabeth Fountain gave an amazing gift to our community. The well-known philanthropists donated $10 million to establish a new school of performing arts at Dalhousie University.

In making this extraordinary gift, Elizabeth Fountain said, "This is not just about making a gift to Dalhousie. It is much broader than that."

Indeed it is. This generous act will benefit our entire community in numerous ways. At the announcement, the Fountains gently challenged governments to step up and play a larger role in directly investing in the building of our creative economy. Those of us in municipal government must accept this challenge. And I believe we are up to it.

It has long been felt by many that HRM is not pulling its weight when it comes to funding for arts and culture. Studies like the well-known Hamilton study have suggested that our direct municipal investment in the arts is the lowest of all benchmark municipalities.

 While we can argue about the methodology of the study, there is little question that we are not a strong enough partner in this area.  While our city gains greatly from having a vibrant arts community, the municipality is a passenger, not a driver, of the creative economy.

I believe we can change that. Recently Council unanimously passed a motion tabled by Councillor Mason to have staff bring back a process to set up an Arts Advisory Council. This could lead to the establishment of a Municipal Arts Council for Halifax, which could provide a number of benefits to our Arts community, our economy and our citizens.

At a recent dinner arranged by the Greater Halifax Partnership, I met the Canadian director of a large multi-national company that has a significant presence in HRM, which could become more significant in the mid-term.

One of the dominant themes of the evening was the importance of a vibrant and unique professional arts environment in attracting top corporate talent to a community. It is, of course, as important to those of us who are already here.

The benefits of investing in the arts are well known and generally understood, but arts investment often takes a back seat to more "pressing" needs. In a city like Halifax where we have an abundance of creative talent it is easy to think we don't have to support the creative economy more actively. I believe we are missing a great opportunity, losing talent and diminishing our potential.

In an article in the Globe and Mail on March 27

( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/the-economic-imperative-for-investing-in-arts-and-culture/article10463290/, Todd Hirsch (chief economist of ATB Financial) spoke of why investment in the arts is imperative for the economic well-being of progressive cities. He compares arts investments to similar investments in roads and bridges: "Arts and culture are infrastructure for the mind." Nicely put.

The remarkable gift of  Fred and Elizabeth Fountain will strengthen that infrastructure for all of us who live here, and those who join us in years to come. I am certain that they would be delighted if the larger gift they give to us is not the $10 million, but the dividends it can pay in creating a stronger, collaborative, sustained commitment to supporting our arts community and recognizing the huge benefit we gain by more fully partnering to take our city to new, bolder places.

 

 

Let's get this out in the open

OPEN is good…..

 

One of the words I used a lot in the campaign for Mayor was ‘open,’  and I wasn’t alone.

 

I think that the concept of opening up government, opening up Halifax is one that strikes a chord with a lot of us. It seems there was a sense that things have been somewhat closed in recent years. So as I reflect on my first half year as Mayor working with my Council team, I am encouraged that I see a fair bit of openness in our daily business.

 

While there will always be a need for some of the work of government to be done away from the lights, we have had very few issues discussed at Council ‘in camera.’ Supported by Council, we have put stringent criteria on these types of issues. Even most business that is marked as ‘in camera’ on the Agenda of Council is actually done in public.

 

Some of these are very minor, quick issues but some are more potentially contentious. Here is the thing…..democracy doesn’t have to be neat and tidy. In fact, disagreement and discussion fuels the democratic process. The key to successful democratic governance is to have vigorous debate, but in a respectful manner. And I believe that our Council has shown that we can disagree, even on emotional issues like budgets, solid waste etc. and not descend into overtly personal and petty political theatrics. I am proud of that.

 

I am also delighted that we have taken significant steps in opening up our data to our citizens. We launched Open Data (you can the link on my webpage at http://www.halifax.ca/mayor/ )  last month. We have plans to open much more information and in a variety of ways over the coming months. I have found senior staff in the City very open to the reality that information needs to be widely shared with citizens. Indeed, our default position should be to open up info, not close the door. This is what progressive governments and cities do as a matter of course.

The open concept is widespread in our city. On May 11 many of us took part in OpenCity, an initiative of the I Love Local movement (http://www.ilovelocalhfx.ca/v1/) during which businesses and organizations welcomed people in to have a look, pick up some bargains and see the vibrancy of our local community. I am excited to be honorary chair of Doors Open Halfax (http://doorsopenhalifax.com/) , when many of our historic and important buildings  will invite people in to have a look around. I am proud that HRM participates in both of these initiatives, and I encourage you to come to City Hall as part of Doors Open Halifax. Even better, come on your bike as Doors Open coincides with Bike Week (http://www.halifax.ca/bikeweek/) in Halifax.

 

We can open up your government in lots of ways….pre-budget deliberations are one avenue that we will consider, and I am pleased to be posting as much of my own Mayoral schedule as possible on my webpage  (http://www.halifax.ca/mayor/ ) . Clearly, we can do more, and I am confident that we will.

 

Nobody campaigns on the theme of closed government, and with good reason. In a democracy, the workings of our government belong to the citizenry and we strengthen our government when we open it up. Yes, we have much to do, but it will be an exciting journey. It already is…  

To Whom Much is Given...

My parents are always on my mind. But it has been especially so recently.

My father passed away 10 years ago today.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and my mom passed away 10 years ago on March 31 .

I was very blessed to have been the son of John and Margaret Savage. They were exceptional people who believed passionately in the importance of both public service, and in making life better for others. There are very few days in my life that go by without someone taking the time to speak of how my parents impacted positively on their lives.

As children, my six brothers and sisters and I were made aware of our good fortune in being born into what my father called 'a life of privilege'...we were not rich, but we wanted for little. We grew up in a wealthy country where we had access to excellent education, and an abundance of opportunity. My parents wanted us to understand our good fortune, and to understand the need for us to make things better for ourselves and for our community.

 

We were taught that "to those whom much is given, much is expected." Those were words that have been used by many, including JFK, in paraphrasing the words of Luke (12:48).

 

In my current life I think about those words as they might apply to our city of Halifax. I often speak of the natural and earned advantages that our generation have been given. We are geographically well positioned as a Gateway into North America, with one of the greatest harbours in the world. We have outstanding post-secondary institutions, and in part due to that fact, we have a highly educated workforce. We have strong, steady public sector employment and some amazing entrepreneurs. We have a world class airport and are the regional leader in finance, health, and education. We have strong cultural and artistic institutions and leaders. In short, we have advantages that most communities would love to have. And we have done well. But have we done well enough?

 

We have so many opportunities that doing well is not good enough. We have the ability to truly become a great city.

This week we will have the Cogswell Shake-Up, where we continue the early stages of revitalizing the interchange lands that were lost to a concrete and asphalt roadway in a wrong-headed 1960s approach to planning. Think how much more beautiful and inviting our downtown area could be if we truly embrace the challenge of balancing our heritage assets with progressive, high quality development; improve our streetscapes; invest in culture big and small; and, support the local independent businesses that give our city so much character and spirit. It’s not something City Hall can do alone – we must work in tandem with government and private sector to improve our showcase to the world.

 

The Irving Shipbuilding contract, new investments in our offshore and new infrastructure like our convention centre and Central Library provide a springboard to a new prosperity.  But we can do much more to ensure that the Halifax we pass on to our children is truly better than the one we inherited from our ancestors.

We have been given much, we must be sure to create much more. It’s what we should expect of ourselves.

From United Air, Flight 5190

I don't think one has to be a particularly good Mayor to be a busy one.

The schedule is always full, and one of the constant challenges, as I learn the job, is to make sure I am focusing on big issues as much as possible.

For me, economic development is the pathway to the kind of community we aspire to be. It will allow us to be healthy, sustainable and truly more liveable.
I see an active role for the Mayor in economic development, and in discussions with business and other stakeholders it is clear that they see a role for the Mayor as well.
This means that I will be on the road on occasion. Unfortunately, it also means I will miss a number of events at home. This week there have been a number of key initiatives that our HRM team, and my office, have been working on in my absence.
The legislative amendments that we require to allow for development in the Regional Center have been ongoing for some time and culminated with their passing in the Legislature today (Thursday, May 9).  A lot of work has gone into these, and I am so impressed with the folks on my own team in the Mayor's office and HRM staff who worked night and day to ensure the success of the process.
From Houston I spoke to MLAs, to the Premier and members of both opposition parties as we came down to the crunch. Councillor Waye Mason, who has been intimately involved in the process with Jennifer Watts and other councillors, represented me at Legislature’s Law Amendments Committee and did a great job.
Another occasion that I was sorry to miss was the screening of Mooseheads games in Grand Parade. This all started with a casual conversation with Josh Bragg, of my staff, when he said "What do think of seeing if we can show some Moose games in public?"
With the help of corporate supporters and our great Events staff at HRM it happened. I would have loved to be there. It’s hard to find Moose broadcasts in Houston!
We all are so excited about the Mooseheads this year. I want you to know that the week I was sworn in as Mayor, the Moose were selected as the best junior team in Canada for the first time. Immediate success for a new council!!
I saw Mooseheads owner Bobby Smith last Saturday. We chatted about the mood in Halifax and how the enthusiasm of the city fuels the team. It certainly works in reverse, and Moose mania is rampant.
I don't want to be overly dramatic but I believe, and have for some time, that the optimism and pride we feel in the Mooseheads, can exist for all of Halifax. The opportunities are significant and within our reach. Working well as a Council, with our Provincial and Federal colleagues, and all of our partners we will see economic development flourish....and we will be the city we know we can be.

 

From United Air, flight 5190.

 

Halifax to Houston, where steak is big and opportunities are bigger

Houston is a huge, hot and growing city. It is the fourth largest city in the USA and may be third soon.

It was a city that was entirely dependent on oil and gas up until the early 1980's, and has now diversified considerably. It is true Texas...big in every sense. Big buildings, big cars and big steaks.

This week it is host to 70,000 delegates at the NRA convention, and host to 85,000 delegates at the OTC (Offshore Technology Convention). It is also the host of the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP)...which is why I am here.

Halifax has been a member of the WECP for years, and hosted the conference a decade ago. Other members include some of the fastest growing and, in most cases, prosperous cities in the world. Houston, Rio, Stavanger (Norway), Perth, Doha, Aberdeen and Calgary are active members. This year's chair is Mayor Dennis O'Keefe of St. John's. Sitting at the table, and having bilateral meetings with these cities is an experience that is hard to replicate in other settings. Other significant cities are anxious to join this group, and are campaigning to be included. At the meeting this week two cities (Esbjerg,Denmark and Karamay,China) made presentations to the board in support of their applications.

This is a community that Halifax is privileged to be party to...and this is where the Mayor of Halifax should be. The OTC meetings are equally important as Halifax is benefitting from investments in its offshore in coming months from both BP and Shell. These companies have each committed over 1 billion dollars in exploration projects. These are significant investments that mean significant benefits for our community.

 

This week I have had the opportunity to meet the senior officials of both companies, and have had the opportunity to talk about their expectations and challenges. Other firms that are eyeing Nova Scotia are here as well, as are a large number of Nova Scotian companies who are networking and establishing a presence in the energy world. The province is well represented and the Maritime Energy association and Offshore Energy Research Association are both actively represented.

 

Being in Houston this week is important for HRM. This is where decisions are made, relationships are built and strengthened and learning from other Energy Cities takes place.

Halifax has great opportunities for Economic Development. Bringing the story of Halifax to the world is the job of many, including the Mayor. This week the story is being told in Houston.