Alan Ho – Ward 6 Councillor, City of Markham Build Ward 6 Together

Description

My name is Alan Ho. I am the Ward 6 Councillor of the City of Markham, serving and representing the residents in my Ward.
Markham is Canada’s most diverse community. It is renowned for its rich heritage, vibrant neighbourhoods and environmental leadership and cutting edge urban design. It has a population of more than 310, 000, of which 40% are of Chinese origin and ranks as the 16th biggest city out of the 2, 000 municipalities in Canada, and 40% are Chinese. There are altogether 8,000 companies offering 130,000 jobs which comprise 24% of the total population. In 2006, the Markham government incorporated an employment development policy to increase job opportunities to more than 50% of its population in the coming 20 years, by targeting 7.5 jobs per 10 people moving into Markham. In fact, since 2006, we have achieved 8 jobs per 10 newcomers, thus exceeding our target. Amongst these 8,000 businesses, 900 are high tech corporations, of which 400 are high tech headquarters. Markham is recognized as Canada’s High Tech capital. In the coming 20 years, it is anticipated that there will be a steady increase of 2% per year in population, equivalent to 6,000 – 8,000 more people calling Markham their home. In 2006 the province designated 24% of the Markham’s land as Greenbelt where urban growth could not occur. Since 60% of Markham land was developed land, it left us only 16% non-developed land and we call it Whitebelt where urban growth could occur from then on. As a result, a wise and sustainable long term plan on land use has been put in place. Population growth will continue to cause traffic issues. To solve this problem certain kinds of transportation infrastructure are required. However, building a transportation infrastructure is very expensive. In order to justify the investment, we need to have appropriate ridership. One of the ways to achieve that is to develop higher density along the transit corridor. This is what we call “Intensification”. Intensification is one of the processes used to achieve appropriate density of population which will give rise to justifiable ridership. However, the transition time required to achieve a justifiable ridership for any transportation infrastructure could take as long as 10 – 30 years. Now we are in a dilemma as a result of intensification. It is expected that congestion will continue for a while and this will bring up objections to growth in density, before any transportation infrastructure can take place. Markham is a booming community. On July 1st, 2012, it officially became a city. We are very proud of achieving this significant milestone. The new status will enhance our global and domestic economic growth. It will help us move towards international trade, especially with many countries in Asia. We will be less dependent on trading with U.S. Strengthening global ties is one of our goals. Mayor Frank Scarpitti, along with some councillors including myself (will lead) led a Markham business delegation to China, as part of a trade and investment mission organized by the Confederation of Greater Toronto Chinese Business Association between November 21 and December 6, 2012. The delegation, comprised of local companies and institutions in the high-tech, medical/health care, real estate, and financial services sectors, (aims) aimed at strengthening and promoting economic, business and cultural ties. Delegates (will visit) visited Markham’s key strategic partners in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Huadu, Foshan, Zhongshan, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Our Chinese community has played an important role helping Markham develop ties with China, leading to the increased trade and investment. The 2012 China mission builds on successful visits in 2008 and 2010. On September 30th, 2012, Markham successfully set the Guinness Book World Records for the world’s longest Chinese dancing dragon outside China. Being the Chair of the Dancing Dragon Committee, I am proud to say that this event was a phenomenal one and attracted thousands of people. It also signified the cultural relationship between Markham and Zhongzhan, China and put Markham on the World map. On the development side, the City of Markham has recently acquired a 101-acre property in the northeast intersection of Elgin Mills and Warden Avenue for a new multi-use sports park. When fully developed, this property will represent the largest outdoor sport facility space in Markham. This park will be large enough to accommodate a number of sports facilities and will change the face of recreation and leisure opportunities in Markham. This use of the land also represents an effective way of ensuring green space within our growing community. Up to today I have received many requests for the following sports/recreational facilities, including: 1. Camp sites for scouting groups 2. Pavilions for Taichi practice 3. Soccer field 4. Basketball court 5. Golf Driving Range Markham Council will continue to refine the plan with input from you, our residents, about this plan after receiving the input from residents. In September 2012, the City of Markham proposed a new Official Plan. The Plan sets out a long-term vision for the continued development of Markham as a vibrant, liveable city. It provides direction to Markham Council, residents, businesses and investors about the appropriate use of land and the appropriate form of development in Markham over the next 20 years. It also proposes direction on the provision of services, such as transportation, that support development. This new Official Plan is the result of a comprehensive planning exercise that was undertaken to determine how best to accommodate expected population and employment growth in Markham to the year 2031. I am excited about Markham’s achievement and future plans, and will dedicate my time to ensure all decisions are in the best interest of the residents in ward 6 and in Markham.