London Mayor Ed Holder prioritizes jobs in his first state-of-the-city address

London Mayor Ed Holder challenged the city's business community to put 13,000 Londoners to work at his first state-of-the-city address.

There were few details about how itshould do that. But the mayor did create a task force that he said will better connect job seekers to employers.

"We have the jobs. And we anticipate thousands of new jobs to open within the next two years," Holder said.

"Imagine the positive impacts on London families and businesses on filling those jobs. We'd give ourcity wings to fly."

Just over 50 days after being sworn in as London's 64th mayor,Holderdelivered his address before a sold-out crowd at the Convention Centre Thursday morning.

The Chamber-sponsored speech is the largest event of its kind in Canada, according to the organization. As in past years, this event is sold out, with 1,400 people packing the early-morning business breakfast.

The event, in its 40th year, is an opportunity for the city's mayor to speak directly to the city's business community.

Holder told the audience his top priority will be to "refocus" the city's efforts on employing Londoners. The task force his office will head will be called "London Jobs Now."

Other priorities, as outlined in the speech, include:

• Better addressthe needs of London's most vulnerable
• Acceleratetransportation projects
• Keepthe city safe, includingimproving ambulance offload times in hospitals and dealing with rowdy students
• Streamlinethe city's construction permit and approval process

The CEOof the Chamber of Commerce had said prior to the speech that he would be looking for the mayor to tackle the participation rate in the workforce which numbers 78,000 Londoners.

"That's people who are not working who might be able to work. That's a huge number of people and I hope the mayor will challenge our business community to resolve that. I can't think of a better goal," said Chamber CEO Gerry McCartney.

London's unemployment rate is at about 5 per cent, but the labour participation rate is at just over 60 per cent, one of the lowest rates in the country.