Join us TOMORROW at CityTalk Live!

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Subject: Join us TOMORROW at CityTalk Live!

Heat, floods, and fires: Can Canadian cities cope with the extremes?

Thursday, August 8 | 12 p.m. ET | Live Zoom Webinar

Today’s cities face huge challenges in both preparing for and recovering from the growing impact of extreme weather events.

Four in five cities across the world now face significant climate hazards such as heatwaves, floods, fires, and droughts. And, much of this extreme weather comes down to a changing climate.

In Canada, over 80 percent of Canadians live in cities and towns, making climate change an important urban challenge. This concentration of people, infrastructure, and resources in urban areas make cities uniquely vulnerable to the growing risks of a changing climate. Beyond risks, it also challenges us to adapt and innovate future planning, as the climate determines almost everything about how we design, build, and live in our cities.

Join us this August 8th at 12:00 p.m. ET where city and community experience will meet science in a candid conversation about how Canadian cities have been impacted by extreme weather and what we are doing (and can plan to do) to adapt for the future.

JOIN US TOMORROW

Check out our urban champions

Denise O'Connor

Mayor | Village of Lytton

Denise O'Connor is the current Mayor of the Village of Lytton. She grew up in Lytton in a forest industry family, left home for UBC, received her Bachelor of Education in 1981, and began her career as a teacher in northern BC. In 1986, she moved back to her hometown to teach, earned a master's degree from SFU in 2004, and retired as a school principal in 2018. Denise has been an active volunteer in her community and region over the years, most recently a director on the Two Rivers Community Services Society. On June 30, 2021, 90 per cent of the Village of Lytton was destroyed by fire. Along with her community, Denise lost the home where she and her husband lived for over 30 years and raised their daughter. After the fire, Denise became a strong voice for the residents and business owners of Lytton, and without previous municipal experience was elected Mayor in the 2022 municipal election. Denise is a member of the only all-female Council in B.C., which is leading the recovery and rebuild of the Village of Lytton, literally from the ground up.

Jen Angel

Chief Executive Officer | Evergreen

Jen Angel is a builder of community, momentum and places people love. As CEO of Evergreen, she works with public, private and community partners to reimagine public places, and then gets her hands dirty to help make them, and make them work harder, for people and planet. For more than 30 years, Evergreen has been bringing people together with nature and each other in cities across Canada. Prior to Evergreen, Jen helped create some of Nova Scotia’s favourite places by land and sea. Her portfolio includes real estate, infrastructure and program development and governance, participatory planning, and design. She’s served on a number of Boards, including as Chair of Discover Halifax, Chair of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, and Chair of the Fundraising Cabinet of United Way Halifax. She’s been named among Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs and 25 Most Powerful Women, received the Allyship Award from Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, and is currently Placemaking Fellow with Canadian Urban Institute.

Kenda Mackenzie

General Manager & Chief Executive Officer | Halifax Water

Kenda is currently acting General Manager/CEO for Halifax Water, with responsibility for more than 600 employees who manage water, wastewater and stormwater service for HALIFAX. Prior to taking on the current role, she was the Director of Regulatory Compliance Services. With almost 30 years of municipal engineering, planning and development experience, Kenda has firsthand expertise in the challenges of growth, aging infrastructure and regulatory compliance. Prior to joining the water utility in 2008, she worked with Halifax Regional Municipality and with CBCL Limited Consulting Engineers. Kenda has participated on multiple panels at the Nova Scotia Utility review Board in support of applications submitted by Halifax Water and HALIFAX. She is a member of the Strategic Advisory Consortium for the Canadian Water Network, a past Chair of ACWWA Government Affairs Committee and participated as a presenter or panelist at numerous conferences on topics such as stormwater billing and Halifax Water’s ISO-14001 Environmental Management System.

Owen Torgerson

Mayor | Village of Valemount

Coming from a civil construction and mining background, Mayor Owen Torgerson is a life-long resident of Valemount. He has been actively involved with local government since 2011, volunteering at first with the Village of Valemount Advisory Planning Commission, Integrated Sustainable Community Planning Team, and the Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives Adjudication Committee. In 2014 he was elected municipal Councillor where much of his focus was on recreational development and tourism, forestry, municipal infrastructure management, and emergency planning. In 2018, Owen was elected Mayor of his hometown, where he and his wife Korie love where they live, work and play.

Can't make it? Watch the recording!

For those of you who won't be able to make it live, make sure to watch the recording on our CityTalk website! Recordings are posted within 1-2 weeks of the event.

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Enjoying CityTalk? Join Us In-Person for the State of Canada's Cities Summit

The State of Canada’s Cities Summit is the preeminent urban event bringing together the most influential Canadians each year to address global, regional, and local challenges facing our cities.

Dec. 5 and Dec. 6 in Ottawa!

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Subject: Join us TOMORROW at CityTalk Live!