News Release
Atlantic Mayors' Congress begins tomorrow in Halifax
(Wednesday, April 17/2002)--Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) Minister Gerry Byrne, Finance Minister Paul Martin, and Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert Thibault will be the Keynote Speakers at the second meeting of the Atlantic Mayors' Congress being hosted by Mayor Peter Kelly in Halifax Regional Municipality, beginning tomorrow and running through Saturday,April 20,2002.
The Atlantic Mayors' Congress was officially formed in November, 2001, for the purpose of increasing opportunities for dialogue, cooperation and the sharing of ideas and experiences of Mayors from the largest cities across the Atlantic Region. HRM Mayor Peter Kelly said" The inaugural meeting last fall, was a big success, with the Mayors from 17 communities formally agreeing to unite together and speak as one, strong regional voice on municipal issues.
The Greater Halifax Partnership also gave a presentation at the Inaugural Congress, on "Opportunities for Cooperation". As an outcome of that presentation, the Mayors recommended that respective economic development representatives from their municipalities meet to discuss ideas on cooperation in presenting Atlantic Canada as a united community. As a follow up to the Mayors' recommendation, the Greater Halifax Partnership will host the Atlantic Canada Economic Growth Forum in parallel with the Mayors' Congress meeting.
Mayor Kelly said "The objectives of this weekend's Mayors' Congress will be to bring municipal regional economic growth stakeholders together for discussion to further the understanding of our common strengths and challenges, to identify as a group, opportunities to advance regional growth, and to develop a high-level action plan to take advantage of additional unique opportunities".
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Mayor Peter Kelly
(902) 490-4010
or
Lori Patterson
Acting Corporate Communications Officer
(902) 490-6531
*Note: The Congress Sessions will not be open to the media, however, Mayor Kelly and other officials will be available for formal briefings and media interviews at the noon break at City Hall and following the daily session on Friday, April 19, 2002.
