Civic Good
What I've been up to since the Mayor thing... and what's on my mind these days
What am I up to?
I get the question a lot. I’ve largely stepped back from the public spotlight since retiring from City Hall, under a kind of self-imposed cooling off period. It’s not mandated the same way provincial and federal ministers have set out cooling off periods (though perhaps it should be). Nevertheless, it’s been a couple of years and I have some thoughts, about encampments for example, though Business Facebook doesn't seem like the best place for them. I’ve been Twitter sober for more than a year, so that’s out. I really enjoyed blogging about my work at City Hall over the years.
So, Substack, I guess? Here goes…
Oh, and I’m not running for anything. This isn’t a launch of anything but a Substack.
I am often asked if I even still live in Edmonton. I do, more or less. I’m just on the road a lot. But I remain invested in the future of this place, so I’m around. And working now on a few local city building projects that aren’t ready for daylight quite yet. Stay tuned.
The primary project I’m engaged on several days a week is climate adaptation finance with Co-operators Insurance and their impact investing arm Addenda Capital. This work has kept me connected with my former colleagues at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, taken me to COP, and it’s fundamentally important to accelerate community resilience to worsening climate-related hazards. This builds on Edmonton City Council’s longstanding nation-leading work on flood mitigation in a climate context, now being implemented by EPCOR. With many partners across Canada, Co-operators is finding ways for risk experts (like insurers) and private capital (think pension funds) to help invest in building household and community resilience to flood, fire, heat, smoke, wind, drought, hurricanes, hail, and (eventually) sea level rise. This is extremely engaging systems change work (even if dark at times) but I work with a fantastic team and I’m learning a lot.
Housing and homelessness remain top of mind for me too. Helping drive solutions like the Housing Accord while serving as Co-Chair of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. I also joined the board of purpose-driven BC housing startup homeD Modular, specializing in factory-built movable and stackable units for rapid deployment of supportive housing.
A really good day combines tricky issues at their overlap, like the Task Force on Housing and Climate I’m grateful to co-chair with Lisa Raitt (stay tuned for recommendations to all orders of government in early March). [Edit: here’s my post on the TF’s report.] Or the Canadian Urban Transit Association’s Housing is on the Line, steered by transit big brain David Cooper and my long-time Chief of Staff, Julianna Charchun. Or advising impact-based startups like Nisto, working on technology for economic reconciliation. Or the #MetroMindset project on inter-municipal/regional collaboration I’ve been leading alongside Prof. Gabriel Eidelman and the U of T School of Cities.
I’m genuinely grateful for this portfolio of interesting collaborations. It’s allowed me to set up my own advisory practice — also called Civic Good — to manage these engagements, while still volunteering a good chunk of my time to several public interest efforts. (Ping me if you’d like to work together on something tricky.)
Do I miss it?
Sometimes, of course, but being Mayor is at least 80% what you have to do given the role, and if you’re lucky there’s room for perhaps 20% of one’s particular mandate and priorities. At least 80% of what I’m working on now is what I’m passionate about, and less than 20% is managing my schedule (help!) and filing my GST returns and the like.
Meanwhile, it’s downright somber watching politics at present. I feel for friends and colleagues in public service at every level. The level of abuse, disrespectful and disordered conduct, disinformation and even violence faced by those we select to be our leaders is atrocious. The eagerness of some leaders to grind that discontent and stoke that anger is even more infuriating.
And of course I was sickened at what happened last week at City Hall, though relieved people I know and care about were all physically ok. But it’s hard to be really ok after something like that happens in your workplace.
So hats off to those on the front lines of the fight for civility and progress. I’m still recovering, and I had it easy — particularly relative to people of colour, women and non-binary folks in public life.
I do miss some of the great people I worked with, and I miss parts of the strategy and even some of the cut and thrust, and I do miss leading people sometimes. But there are many ways to serve and I’m enjoying finding different ways to contribute, somewhat above the fray, including sharing some reflections here. Thanks for reading.
So, every few weeks (on a Tuesday I suppose?) I’ll have some thoughts to share here on the Civic Good. Hit subscribe if you’d like to hear policy ideas and reflections on housing, climate, governance, economic reconciliation, community economic development, regionalism — and other city stuff. Not looking to make bank on this, so no paywall is in the works.
Nice to hear from you. I’d say you are one of the good ones. We need people like you.
Thanks for sharing. Very interested in the climate adaptation finance piece