City of Calgary Alderman Ward 8

 Jon ran for Calgary City Council in 1995, and was elected as Alderman for Ward 8 for two consecutive terms representing nearly 50,000 inner city residents.  While on City Council, he was known for his advocacy of "fighting for the underdog", as well as energy conservation, environmental stewardship, technology, ethics, lower taxes, effectiveness and efficiency, Affordable housing,Senior and poverty issues, community safety and numerous small business issues.

 He initiated a nearly unprecedented 32 Notices of Motion many of which resulted in successful Civic initiatives such as:

• ISO 14000, http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm  (the world's pre-eminent Environmental Management System methodology for large organizations) that created millions of dollars in savings in a very short time. This mammoth undertaking has taken years to accomplish, but the City of Calgary is now the very first major City on Earth to have achieved independent ISO 14000 certification (Envirosystem) something all Calgarians, Albertans, and Canadians interested in efficient, effective government and the environment, can really be very proud of.
• http://content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Environmental+Management/Our+Environmental+Management+System/EnviroSystem.htm
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• Energy Conservation and Green Energy promotion. Jon is like a broken record on this subject. His first motion on City Council in 1995 is now credited with saving taxpayers upwards of $100 million dollars over 10 years - and will meet fully 50% of the entire City of Calgary's Kyoto commitments as well! All from going after energy conservation in our 500 city-owned buildings and street light systems - mostly by changing from old to new technology light bulbs. This got Jon nominated for the Emerald Award,  the highest provincial environmental achievement recognition.
• Initiated a major Telework  http://www.ivc.ca/cta/motion and initiative through Notice of Motion, and helped raise this new revolution in work long before it was well-known. Helped the Canadian Telework Association achieve national profile and participated in the first Canadian Telework Day initiative.
• Green energy. Jon was forefront in promoting green energy with the city, helping set the stage for projects such as Calgary's Ride the Wind LRT http://www.calgarytransit.com/environment/ride_the_wind.htmlprogram, the first of it's type in North America.
• Instrumental in resolving the 30-year battle between Victoria Park community and the Calgary Stampede regarding major Stampede expansion plans.
• Senior's Tax mitigation / Small business Tax Mitigation / Heritage Preservation / Green Energy / Fire Prevention / Recycling and 27 other initiatives (one third of all motions put forward on a Council of 15).
• Cost savings / tax reduction motions and a number of innovative and leading-edge ideas.
• Instrumental in creating the revitalization efforts in Victoria Park and the Beltline, by initiating a BRZ which has now grown into one of Calgary’s larger and more successful BRZ’s.
• First Alderman to call for a Canadian Bill of Responsibilities - not just rights.
• First Canadian legislator to introduce legislation calling for Municipal Councilors to be given equal rights and responsibilities to that of MLA's and MP's.

            -    Served on dozens of committees, such as the Calgary Planning Commission,
                  Audit Committee, all Standing Policy Committees, all  Ward 8 Community
                  Associations and Business Revitalization Zone Boards, in addition to City

                  Council and occasional Deputy Mayor duties.

            -     Director on the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Board for 5 years.

            -     One of the first Municipal Councilors in Canada, to have a web-page
                   and make extensive use of the Internet  - in the mid 1990’s.

            -     Worked with Calgary Tourism Board, Calgary Homeless Board, and others.

Province of Alberta MLA - Member Legislative Assembly of Alberta

In the 2001 Alberta general election, Jon was elected with 64% of the popular vote for the riding of Calgary Currie and over the next 4 years served on a number of committees:

- Chair of Alberta Special Places

- Chair of the School Construction and Maintenance Cost Review Committee (which re-introduced the dormant P3 concept)

- Co-chair of the Secondary Suite review (which resulted in Provincial legalization and Building Code recognition)

- MLA Member: Alberta’s Place within Confederation Special Committee

- MLA Member: Public Members Private Bills Committee

- MLA Member: Government Regulatory Review Committee

- MLA Director: Calgary Homeless Foundation

According to Hansard, Jon was one of the most outspoken and active MLA’s in the Government. He was nominated for an Emerald Award for achievements on environmental issues. He introduced numerous innovative ideas and potential solutions to vexing government issues.

He introduced several bills designed to encourage transparency and accountability within government departments and among elected officials:

- Introduced Bill 207, the “Municipal Councilors Disclosure and Protection Act” which would greatly improve accountability, financial disclosure and transparency for Alderman and Councilors across the Province.

- Was the first elected official in Canada to propose “Qui Tam Whistleblower - Reward” legislation an idea which has saved U.S. taxpayers in excess of $13 Billion dollars, (with a deterrent effect into the hundreds of billions, according to one U.S. senator.)

- Was the first elected official in Canada to propose greater funding be allocated for Lbogaine research – a drug that could possibly help cure drug addictions

- Was the first elected official in Canada to introduce the “Earned Income Tax Credit” concept which has lifted millions of people out of poverty elsewhere

- Leading edge work towards improving living conditions for people living in basement suites (and their neighbors) and the creation of more affordable housing units.

- Chaired the Committee which identified significant potential taxpayer savings in new School Construction costs

- Leading edge promotion of green energy and energy conservation retrofits. Lobbied the Minister and other administrative officials. Provincial buildings will now be using 100% green energy by 2005 - a North American first.

While Chair of the Alberta Special Places Committee - later Alberta Parks - the Province approved the committees work by passing one of the worlds most successful environmental protection policies of that year - designating over 7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi) of Alberta as environmentally protected - the largest percentage of overall land base of any Province in Canada at that time, creating 80 new Provincial Parks. 12.75% of the entire Province is under environmental protection - #1 in Canada. Community Involvement: