Workshop lead: Broadband in Rural Communities.
Bob’s passion for ideas around economic justice and Jane Jacobs carried him through a B.A. in Economics (Honours, UofC), though he promptly got distracted to become an Urban and Regional Planner in Calgary for 35 years. On the side, he immersed himself in community-based groups and actions. Along the way, Bob obtained an MA in Community and Regional Planning (UBC) and, more recently, completed the Community Economic Development program at Simon Fraser University. As it turned out, he retired into another career to merge economics and regional planning in his role as the Regional Economic Prosperity Lead for a voluntary collaboration of municipalities (whose Board is a dozen Mayors). Bob has provided leadership to the Calgary Region’s broadband and fibre initiative over the past three years, working closely with municipalities, other regions and the Province.