Mayor touts Green Markham at annual business lunch

YorkRegion.com
June 14, 2017
Tim Kelly

In front of a sold-out crowd at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre Tuesday, Mayor Frank Scarpitti laid out his vision of Green Markham.

Green Markham, the mayor told his business lunch audience, focuses on an "81-per-cent recycling rate, the best in North America," an achievement he touted as one of which the city could be proud.

Green Markham, Scarpitti said, was leading the way with a new textile recycling program that encourages citizens to literally, "give us the shirt off your back, as long as you are finished with it."

And Green Markham, as it celebrates its 10th anniversary of its Trees for Tomorrow program, has now planted 350,000 trees, which is "one for every citizen of the city of Markham," the mayor said.

Scarpitti also talked about Markham's record of innovation, bringing out General Motors, Venture Lab, Honda Canada and other executives to have an intimate one-on-one talks with him before the large audience.

The back-and-forth highlighted the success the city has had in drawing some of the very best and brightest minds and businesses from Canada and around the world.

Scarpitti also mentioned the Markham campus of York University, scheduled to start construction “sometime in 2018” and open for students in Markham Centre in September 2021.