Reflections on student life at the Haskayne School of Business

In the spring of 2014, Mayor Nenshi chatted with Alumni Connections for the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, his alma mater. You can view that article on page 3 using this link. The full text is below:

Reflection on student life: It’s all about getting involved

When Mayor Naheed Nenshi (BComm’93) thinks back to his time at Haskayne, he thinks of connectedness.

Not surprising from an alumnus who did everything from joining the ICBC team four years running, to serving as President of the U of C Students’ Union, to editing the Scurfield Squire (with his current Chief of Staff, Chima Nkemdirim (BComm ’94), who also served as Vice President External on the SU), down to simply taking the time to catch up with people in Scurfield Hall. All this involvement grounded the Mayor, and lay the foundation for the high level of involvement and disclosure he brings to everything he does. He has also maintained some key university connections.

Before becoming mayor of Calgary, Mr. Nenshi worked in the private, public and non-profit sectors including a stint at McKinsie & Company and starting his own consulting firm. He enjoyed spanning the three worlds, as they each had specialized processes. His consultancy was equally effective for retail as it was for the arts, proving that he had armed himself with the right tools and an attitude for success.

“It’s about more than transparency,” he explains, “it’s inviting people into decision making, and giving them the full information to make decisions.”

As for his love of Calgary and his alma mater’s role within it, Mayor Nenshi has some great advice. The university has done a good job of attracting talent, but he feels it is poised to do even more with undergrads. Calgary can keep the talent here with all it offers in quality of life—it has the arts, nature, and is an entrepreneurial, dynamic home for families to grow. It is no accident that so many head offices are in Calgary, especially when telecommuting is possible the world over. It’s simply a great place to be.

However, as alumni, we could do more. Mayor Nenshi asks his fellow graduates to advocate with our governments for accessible post-secondary education. “Post-secondary education is not an ivory tower, it’s the ticket to a great life for everyone.”

The Mayor encourages all University alumni to use the skills acquired to take up his “3 Things for Calgary” challenge. Bring your creativity and knowledge into what you pay forward. Everyone has the power to change their community, in their own way, within their abilities. Haskayne alumni have a special opportunity to use their management skills to make many improvements in the community.

Take up the Mayor’s challenge: “If everyone did at least 3 Things for Calgary, we’d have more than 3 million actions that would make this an even better city.” Join the board of a non-profit, help audit the books, use your management skills to improve public services. Do so with U of C pride! 

Mayor Nenshi, Sharon, and Bram sing Skinnamarink

One of the neat things about being mayor? You get called up to sing Skinnamarink with renowned children's performers Sharon and Bram (of Sharon, Lois, and Bram). Mayor Nenshi joined the duo on stage at the 2014 Calgary International Children's Festival.

Remember the flood and celebrate the spirit of Calgary on Saturday, June 21

Mayor Nenshi at a community cafe during the 2013 floods

On June 20 and 21 last year, Calgary faced the greatest challenge in its history. This year, let's remember the flood while celebrating the spirit of Calgary and the remarkable outpouring of kindness, help, and citizenship exhibited by all Calgarians.

The best way to celebrate community is to do it in the community. On Saturday June 21, 2014, join with your neighbours in every community in Calgary to get to know each other better. Some communities are having block parties, some are having barbecues on their front lawns (instead of their back decks), some are coming together to clean up their neighbourhoods after this long winter.

Check with your local community association on what's planned in your neighbourhood, or, even better, organize something yourself. Enjoy the longest day of the year and kick off the summer by getting to know your neighbours better.

The City of Calgary has prepared a website for what we're calling Neighbour Day at calgary.ca/neighbourday. You'll find ideas on what you can do, as well as simple tools to help you organize that block party or community clean-up. And make sure you let your City Councillor and the Mayor know what you're up to—you may find yourself with an unexpected guest!

“We've had a tough year,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “But it's also been a year of triumph as we showed the world who we are and how we help each other. On June 21, let's remember what we've lost, but celebrate what we've gained: an even stronger community. Get to know your neighbours--it's the most rewarding thing you can do!”

For more information, ideas on how to celebrate, and tools and templates to help plan your Neighbour Day event, visit calgary.ca/neighbourday.

Neighbour Day is part of The City of Calgary’s one-year commemoration of the 2013 June Flood. A formal commemoration event will be taking place on June 20. Details of that event will be released in the coming weeks.

For more information on flood recovery and flood preparation, visit calgary.ca/floodinfo.

(Cross-posted from The City of Calgary Newsroom)

Wear red for the National Day of Honour: May 9, 2014

May 9, 2014, has officially been declared by the federal government as National Day of Honour to commemorate the end of the Afghanistan mission. This day is a way for Canadians across the country to acknowledge the strength and the sacrifices made by members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and to support the friends and families of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan.

All Calgarians (including City of Calgary employees) are encouraged to wear red on that day and to observe a moment of silence in support and acknowledgement of National Day of Honour.

The Government of Canada will be holding a few different activities in Ottawa on May 9, including a moment of silence on Parliament Hill, and you can read about them here.

For events around Calgary click here.

158 Canadian Armed Forces Members lost their lives while serving in Afghanistan, this number includes 40 Alberta-based soldiers. Four Canadian civilians were also killed. For a complete list of all fallen soldiers you can visit the National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces website.

On March 12, 2014 Flags at the City of Calgary were lowered to signify the end of the Afghanistan mission and to honour the fallen Albertan soldiers.

The Afghanistan Memorial Vigil is currently touring Canada and will be in Calgary this coming August. More information will be posted as the date gets closer.

You can read more about the National Day of Honour and the Afghanistan Memorial Vigil here.

Council priorities for 2015-2018

Late in the evening on Monday, May 6, Calgary City Council approved Council Priorities which will provide the necessary direction to administration to build their 2015 – 2018 business plans and budgets, Action Plan 2015 - 2018.

Council Priorities for 2015 – 2018 are very closely aligned to the top priority areas identified in the Action Plan citizen engagement in March. Council Priorities encompass five key themes:

• A prosperous city – Calgary continues to grow as a magnet for talent, a place where there is opportunity for all, and the best place in Canada to start and grow a business.
• A city of inspiring neighbourhoods – Every Calgarian lives in a safe, mixed and just neighbourhood, and has the opportunity to participate in civic life.
• A city that moves – People and goods can move well and safely throughout the city, using a variety of convenient, affordable, accessible and efficient transportation choices.
• A healthy and green city – We steward our air, land and water while encouraging healthy lifestyles for all Calgarians.
• A well-run city – Calgary’s government is open, responsive, accountable and transparent, delivering excellent services at a fair price. We work with our government partners to ensure we have the tools we need.

Council reviewed many inputs before setting Council Priorities including: global, national and local trends, such City strategic plans and guiding documents as Imagine!Calgary, the Municipal Development Plan and Calgary Transportation Plan, along with The City’s long-range financial plan, economic indicators and, of course, citizen engagement.

Council Priorities are set to help guide each department as they create their business plans and budgets for the next four years. They define four-year priorities to ensure that City departments work together to achieve the right balance in quality public services while keeping tax rates affordable.

City staff will now use Council Priorities, along with other inputs including the indicative rates and fees, citizen engagement, trends, economic indicators and the needs of day to day operations, to draft their business unit and departmental business plans and budgets.

A high level summary of these draft plans will be presented by each department at five respective Standing Policy Committee meetings in September. Citizens and stakeholders will have opportunities to provide comments and thoughts on the consolidated draft Action Plan 2015-2018 in mid-November. There will be a final opportunity for citizens and stakeholders to appear and present at Council’s Public Hearing at the beginning of business plan and budget debates which start November 24, 2014.

(cross-posted from City of Calgary Newsroom)

Infographic: understanding property taxes

This infographic was produced to help Calgarians understand our property taxes: what they fund, how they compare, and how they're set. You can view and download the PDF here.

Calgary ready to accommodate expected suburban growth

Calgary has enough serviced and zoned land to house the 114,000 new people expected over the next five years, according to new growth forecast and land supply numbers released by The City. In total, there is enough serviced land with approved zoning for 18,846 single family/semi-detached homes and 26,793 multi-family units (such as apartments and townhouses).

“As The City seeks out the best areas for new growth, it is important to have reliable information on the existing supply of land ready for development and to know how much development we will need moving forward,” says Rollin Stanley, General Manager of Planning, Development & Assessment. “We can see from this recent report that there is enough serviced land to accommodate our short-term growth, and we are constantly working with the development community to plan for and invest in Calgary’s long-term growth as well.”

The majority of the land ready for new development is clustered on the northern and southern edges of Calgary. Focusing investment in a few key areas at a time is a way to ensure that new communities are completed sooner, infrastructure is used to its fullest potential and operating costs for services like fire protection are more efficient.

The growth forecast and land supply inventory was reported in The City’s annual Suburban Residential Growth report. The report is based on The City’s economic forecasts and planning data and is developed in consultation with development industry experts. The report measures the amount of land that has an approved area structure plan (which provides a basic design for a new community), approved zoning for development and services like access to the transportation network, water, sanitary and storm sewer, and fire protection. Key findings of this year’s report were:

The Suburban Residential Growth report is one of three major reports that The City uses to measure how much land is needed and available for development in Calgary. The Developed Areas Growth and Change report examines the land supply in Calgary’s established communities. It will be released later this spring.

(cross-posted from the City of Calgary Newsroom)