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He’ll launch a new task force, called London Jobs Now — a partnership between the mayor’s office, the London Economic Development Corp., post-secondary schools and large local employers, Nestle, among others — to address those gaps.

“We talk about the five per cent unemployment rate — and I think we have to feel pretty good about that — we also have to recognize that the real number is those people who have stopped looking or don’t have the skill sets or don’t know what to do next,” Holder said.

TRANSIT

Holder urged his council colleagues to find “areas of consensus” around improving transit, and transportation more broadly, and called on them to pitch a plan to the provincial government within two months to access the $170 million Queen’s Park has earmarked for London.

As he maintained throughout the election campaign this fall, Holder said he now has confirmation from the province that the funding can be used for projects other than $500-million bus rapid transit network. He pointed to traffic signal synchronization, more buses and road widenings as possible compromises that could find enough support on council.

POVERTY

Spiralling rates of opioid addiction and child poverty and a growing waiting list for public housing got a shout-out in Holder’s address, but little time spent on solutions. “We cannot, and will not, simply move our most vulnerable out of sight,” he said, stressing the need for jobs to help Londoners get back on their feet. He also pointed to provincial and federal supports, echoing his common refrain that “no municipality can do it alone.”

CRIME

Holder pointed to strained police resources, particularly frontline officers waiting in hospitals as a result of mental health calls and tied up with the raucous parties at the Fake Homecoming near Western University. Another task force is in the works to allow Western, police and city hall to probe solutions.

DEVELOPMENT

On the heels of a third straight year of annual construction permits exceeding $1 billion, Holder promised to continue “streamlining” city hall’s process for approving residential and commercial construction. “We have heard from some builders and developers, however, that it has not always been easy to do business.”