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Chamber boss: Music focus in mayor's 'state' speech hits right chord

Mayor Ed Holder's pledge to create an "entertainment district" in London's core is a sign of a city that's embracing the power of music, the head of the London Chamber of Commerce says.

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Mayor Ed Holder’s pledge to create an “entertainment district” in London’s core is a sign of a city that’s embracing the power of music, the head of the London Chamber of Commerce says.

In a wide-ranging state of the city address Tuesday morning, Holder zeroed in on London’s recent designation as a “City of Music” through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

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“We are going to prove why we are, without question, Canada’s city of music,” Holder said. “We need to let the music play.”

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Developing a new set of rules to support a downtown entertainment district — from a noise bylaw to streamlined approvals — is key to attracting investment and bringing back vibrancy, chamber chief executive Graham Henderson said.

UNESCO gave us this gift and now we have to make it sing,” said Henderson, a former president of Music Canada.

“Every city we studied that invested in music, they found a payback beyond their wildest expectations,” he added of his former role.

The downtown designation could include a new noise bylaw — which has been a past point of contention in London, with even the bid to allow live music on patios causing a fuss among a vocal minority of residents — and streamlined approvals for events, Holder said in his speech.

Graham Henderson, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, supports Mayor Ed Holder’s pledge to create a downtown entertainment district and “let the music play.” Bringing more music and musicians downtown will make it more livable and inclusive, Henderson says.  (Supplied photo)
Graham Henderson, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, supports Mayor Ed Holder’s pledge to create a downtown entertainment district and “let the music play.” Bringing more music and musicians downtown will make it more livable and inclusive, Henderson says.  (Supplied photo)

Henderson said attracting music and musicians downtown will build “a more livable, inclusive downtown,” by helping to bring back crowds and “activate” public spaces.

“There are other issues that we need to address,” Henderson added, citing homelessness and addiction.

“We can’t just ignore them and you can’t count on music to solve those problems. But more people in the downtown core will change the way the core feels.”

It’s not clear what streets would bound the proposed entertainment district or when it could be implemented.

It was one vow in the mayor’s wide-ranging address, the last of the council term. Holder focused his remarks on the best and worst of the last year, including the continued devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as economic and athletic highlights.

The annual address, a fundraiser for the London chamber, typically draws more than 1,000 guests at RBC Place convention centre. The event was expected to return to an in-person format this year before it was nixed by the Omicron variant’s rampant spread.

The virtual event included a musical opener, a Latin American musical duo led by Orlando Valencio, and the practice will continue each year, Henderson said.

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In past years, Holder has used his annual address to set targets, including getting 13,000 Londoners back into the workforce, reaching a decision on the controversial bus rapid transit project, electrifying the city’s bus fleet and, last year, creating 3,000 new affordable housing units within five years.

He outlined several smaller goals on Tuesday, though there was little detail, including a call for more police officers, saying London police don’t have the resources needed to keep the city safe.

Holder also returned to a pledge he made at his first state of the city address in 2019, when he promised to connect workers with transportation needed to reach industrial areas of the city. That long-awaited goal still hasn’t been met, with London Transit working this year to develop an “alternative” on-demand service to allow people to catch a ride to Innovation Park, the industrial zone in London’s southeast.

“Politics isn’t just what you believe, it’s what you prioritize,” Holder said throughout his speech, in something of an unofficial tagline.

He ended with a push for unity.

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“We are not merely a city, we are a family. Families celebrate together, families grieve together, and families succeed together,” Holder said.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

  • London must work to eradicate Islamophobia after the fatal hit-and-run that claimed the lives of three generations of the Afzaal family in what police allege was a targeted attack because of their faith, Holder said.
  • Holder claimed London is “once again the undisputed economic engine of Southwestern Ontario,” pointing to 18 straight months of job gains.
  • London secured “record investments” from the federal and provincial governments for transit, Holder said, citing the downtown rapid transit loop and east London Link. Holder, who campaigned against bus rapid transit and voted to kill half of it — the north and west legs — called the early construction a sign of “generational and transformative changes to London’s transit system.”
  • Holder also called on private developers to help reach London’s affordable housing goals, saying legacies are built not on “cranes in the sky,” but by lives saved.
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