Bottom from L to R: Executive Director COlleen Shepherd, Mayor Bill Robertson, Councillor Bary Williamson, Mayor Patricia Matthews, Mayor John Borrowman, Councillor Jim Stevenson
Chestermere is a part of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), a collaborative network of 14 municipalities in the Calgary Region stretching from Banff to Strathmore, and Irricana to Nanton. These cooperative towns work together to ensure growth occurs in a sustainable manner by protecting the natural environment and watershed, fostering economic vitality and by delivering a complete regional transportation and mobility system.
The organization is one of a kind and the only voluntary regional organization of municipalities in Canada that collectively represent more than 1.2 million people. They believe that with this comes great responsibility – responsibility to continue to develop in a manner that is sustainable and prosperous for future generations.
The CRP is excited to introduce the new Board of Directors and Executive. The Board consists of some returning and new additions and includes Chestermere’s Mayor Patricia Matthews along with representatives from Airdrie, Banff, Black Diamond, Calgary, Canmore, Cochrane, Irricana, Nanton, Okotoks, Strathmore and Turner Valley.
According to the CRP, the Calgary Region is expected to grow to more than three million people in the next 60 years. That’s an addition of approximately 1.8 million people. Estimates propose we will add about 800,000 new jobs and thousands of hectares of new development on the landscape.
The CRP and the Calgary Metropolitan Plan aims to answer the questions that arise as a result of this growth: Where will people live? How will they move around? What jobs will they have? Will there be enough water for everyone?
“The CRP is an excellent opportunity for Chestermere to access experts that we could not otherwise afford and find networking opportunities that offer further collaboration with our neighbours. It’s about growing smarter in the future, in our own way and on our own terms, but with the impact we have on the region in mind,” says Mayor Matthews, who feels fortunate to be the Vice Chair of the Partnership.
“I’m excited to work with the new and returning Board members under our new governance model and continue to produce results that benefit our community and the region in general,” adds the mayor of Chestermere.
