Special Episode – Building a Future for the City: An Interview with Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson

We have a special, short bonus episode for you today! We are very glad to welcome the mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, to the podcast and although we are not strictly talking about investing and our usual topics, we do think it is a great and insightful conversation that you will enjoy, no matter where you are from. Mayor Watson tells us about his vision for the city, how he characterizes it, and the importance of the tech scene to its growth and success. We also talk about talent attraction and retention, social media in politics, budgeting, and his greater mission while in office.

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson & Cameron Passmore

Be sure to tune and hear it all, here on the Rational Reminder Podcast!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The mayor’s description of Ottawa. [0:02:24.7]
• Ottawa’s tech scene and the impact of companies like Shopify. [0:03:16.2]
• Attracting and retaining talent in the city. [0:05:48.8]
• Implementing a vision through daily work. [0:07:38.4]
• The role of social media in the job of the mayor. [0:08:53.7]
• Mayor Watson’s greater mission in politics. [0:11:06.6]
• Budgeting and balancing expectations around this. [0:12:55.1]
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“We’re proud of our capital city, an open, progressive community that’s proud of its green space, proud of its tech sector, well-educated and a compassionate city.” — @JimWatsonOttawa [0:02:38.2]

“My vision emanates from what I campaign on as my platform.” — @JimWatsonOttawa [0:07:59.6]

Links From Today’s Episode:

Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582 
Benjamin on Twitter — https://twitter.com/benjaminwfelix
Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/
Cameron on Twitter — https://twitter.com/CameronPassmore
Cameron on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronpassmore/
Jim Watson — https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/mayor-and-city-councillors/jim-watson
Mark Sutcliffe — http://www.marksutcliffe.com/
Shopify — https://www.shopify.com
Farnam Street — https://fs.blog/
Shane Parrish — https://fs.blog/speaking/
Invest Ottawa — https://www.investottawa.ca/
MoneySense — https://www.moneysense.ca/
Kathleen Wynne — https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/kathleen-wynne/

Download the transcript of this episode:  The Rational Reminder Podcast – Bonus Episode Transcript