Windsor's mayor has his eye on the future and what he hopes the city will look like when COVID-19 is a thing of the past.
Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, Drew Dilkens says economic renewal is important and the pandemic has underscored some major shortfalls.
"Right back to my inaugural speech about the need to make sure that we're diversifying our economy and preparing this community and this region to become more resilient in the future," he says.
With the help of city council, Dilkens a plan is in the works that officials have a conversation with the community.
"We think that now is the right time to have this conversation, that we can put elements in place that this council an start, other councils can build upon that will start leading to a new sense of what we can do in our community.”
Dilkens says over the course of the discussions, it will be important not to lose sight of our traditional roots and the things we're good at.
"It's not a 180 here but it's talking about how do we move forward in a thoughtful way so that people who are going to school, when they graduate, they have an opportunity to stay here," he says.
Dilkens adds it's important to keep in mind that in the event something were to happen with one of the city's largest employers, that the community is able to rebound and take advantage of other opportunities in what he describes as the "new world of work."