When more than 15,000 Rotarians gather in Calgary in June, they will bring with them more than $80 million for the local economy, officials said Thursday. Read More
Rotary is a network of clubs consisting of volunteers who work to mitigate various issues, including peace, development and education
Rotary is a network of clubs consisting of volunteers who work to mitigate various issues, including peace, development and education
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When more than 15,000 Rotarians gather in Calgary in June, they will bring with them more than $80 million for the local economy, officials said Thursday.
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“This is not just some ordinary event, it’s the largest convention to be held at our newly expanded BMO Centre,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said of the Rotary International Convention — which includes members from more than 120 countries — during a news conference Thursday.
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“And it will inject more than $80 million into our local economy.”
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Rotary host organizing committee co-chair Mark Starrat said the event, which runs from June 21 to 25, will be a significant boost.
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“That’s flights, that’s hotels, that’s our food establishments,” he said. “That’s just a wonderful way for the entire city to be completely engaged economically in our city.”
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Rotary is a network of clubs consisting of volunteers who work to mitigate various issues, including peace, development and education.
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The organization was founded in 1905 by Paul Harris, who wanted to form a community of professionals to exchange ideas and develop friendships. Over the years, the group has tackled several missions, including to eradicate polio with the help of various organizations.
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“We are designing the future that we wish to have, and inviting Rotarians to Calgary for an event at this global scale was the feature that we imagined almost a decade ago when we submitted our bid,” Gondek said.
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Bidding for the event involved a competitive process, in which the organization chose its hosts for the next three years from a pool of 10 cities.
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Rotary’s event will follow the G7 Summit, which will be held in Kananaskis from June 15 to 17.
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Rotary’s members insist it isn’t a political organization. However, it is now operating in a highly politicized environment, where many of its goals, such as international aid, vaccinations and education, are facing challenges on the global stage.
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Bryn Styles, chair of the Rotary International Convention in Calgary, told Postmedia that despite geopolitical tensions across the globe, the organization’s members remain committed to its mandate of promoting peace.
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“There’s different kinds of peace,” he said “There’s negative peace, which is when you think of conflicts and violence. But there’s positive peace, where you can create the atmosphere so that peace can occur, and that’s what Rotary tries to do.”
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He added that such discussions are crucial precisely because of an increasingly politicized atmosphere.
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“It’s so vitally important to (go from) the G7, which is a highly politicized event, to Rotary, which is non-political and which is working to create this world of peace in a different way, from the grassroots up,” Styles said.
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