Friday, May 30, 2008

FCM 2008, Day One

Wow, the red-eye flight was a killer, we arrived in Quebec at eight in the morning after what seemed to be the world's longest flight. Luckily we've had a day to adjust and get ourselves on to E.S.T.

I had hoped to do lots of blogging from the convention floor but unfortunately Videotron is charging $225.00 for access. That would let me get on the system for the whole conference from anywhere .... but, that's a little steep. Luckily I found the "Internet Lounge" where you can get access for $9.99 for 5 hours. So, posts won't come as rapidly as I'd have liked but they will come....

Quickly, some pictures from the opening before I go in to a session...


The entrance to the Convention Centre, with some great public art



Whoa!!! What was that...?! I didn't even hear it come up!



Some of the 2000 registered delegates still signing in. I ran in to Jack O'Toole from the County of GP as I walked in.


Delegates start getting seated for the opening ceremonies.


I think most of council is going to the session I'm heading into now:

FCM’s Green Municipal Fund and Sustainable Community Plans

Moderator:Mayor Jean Perrault, FCM First Vice-President

Speakers:Mayor Alan DeSousa, Saint-Laurent Borough, Montréal, Que.; Councillor Karen Leibovici, City of Edmonton, Alta.; Mayor Marcel Robert, City of Sorel-Tracy, Que.

FCM’s Green Municipal Fund (GMF) offers funding and other resources to help municipal governments meet their sustainable development goals. A key focus of FCM’s Green Municipal Fund is providing grants to assist municipal governments with the development of sustainable community plans. More and more municipalities are adopting sustainable community plans.
In many provinces, they are a prerequisite for federal gas tax transfers; in others, they are mandated by the provincial government, such as through Québec’s Sustainable Development Act.

This session will provide best practice examples of sustainable community plans. Panelists will discuss the challenges and
opportunities they encountered when developing their sustainable community plans.The session will also highlight funding opportunities available through the GMF.

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