Calgary Living - Real Estate & Life Style with host Bryon Howard

Ep- 43 Emile's Mayoral Journey.

Episode Summary

Emile Gabriel’s father was his first role model. Despite knowing that he had only a few months to live, he continued to work tirelessly to the last minute in the service of others. As a doctor, he was dedicated to his community, especially the poor, whom he chose to treat for free. He passed away at the young age of 42, due to kidney disease, but passed on his commitment and passion for serving others to his children (Emile was 11, 1/2 years young at that time). His mother, a widow, trying to learn how to cope with this tragedy, left alone with the responsibility of raising six young children on her own with a small pension, remained a strong loving example for her children. Her sacrifice, wisdom and guidance molded her children into strong, persevering individuals with a deep desire to give to others and to look for solutions. As a young person, Emile was instilled with the values of giving to others and motivated by his parent’s inspiring examples. As an immigrant, he came to Canada with just $200 in his pocket. In order to support himself, he took jobs like working in a bakery, paint manufacturing firm, warehouses, loading docks, and security officer at Calgary Airport. With his Civil Engineering degree, he worked with Alberta Transportation, building Highways, Bridges and Airports. During that time, he went to the University of Alberta to upgrade his knowledge in transportation. As an entrepreneur by nature, he took a leap into the business world, started a small paving company, followed by starting his own businesses in the food industry (coffee trucks and small food kiosks at the farmers market). His first-hand personal experience, made him sensitive to other Calgarians' struggle in making a living, building a life and providing for family. Throughout his learning journey, he took advanced courses in cities’ planning and transportation at both Universities of Alberta and Calgary. Later, he obtained a PhD degree in Project Management Specialization from the University of Calgary and works now as a management consultant providing service to a variety of firms and organizations. This combination of knowledge and experience makes him a good fit to lead a growing city like our city of Calgary. Connect with Emile here: Website: emile4calgarymayor.com Facebook: mayor4calgary Connect with Bryon here: www.thehowardteam.net https://www.facebook.com/thehowardteamcalgary https://www.instagram.com/calgary_living/ Email: bryon@thehoeardteam.net Phone: 403-589-0004

Episode Transcription

Okay, well, folks, welcome to another edition of living in Calgary. Today. We have the good fortune to have Miro candidate Emily on the show. Emily. Welcome. Hi yeah. We'll continue. And thank you for the opportunity. My name actually email, email, email, email, and your last name, how you pronounce that?

 

I won't mess it up many times. People actually pronounce it differently like hemo. So I came up with an idea. I said, what do you eat every day? They said meal. So that's a meal eat meal. That's email every day, email, email, all that. That's good. Okay. I was going to say, when you asked me eat every day, I was going to think oatmeal, which would not be true, but I do like oatmeal and I would like to.

 

Email, send me an email email. Yeah. Well, that's good email. Just as we were hitting record here, this is your third time running for our mayor here in Calgary. And so what drives you to to want to lead our city? Well, a couple of things as you know, I am an immigrant and I came from me. Egypt is our was a beautiful country and many people when I was young, came from other countries to live in Egypt.

 

COVID neighbors with German, Italian, Greek, you name it, but then corruption stopped taking place and opportunity for young people like me after finishing university was not existing. Unless if you have connection or you want to bribe somebody. What's your value is that we didn't have it in my family.

 

So we've been looking for another new home. We went to Switzerland. We tried different countries in Europe, but there is no immigration in Europe. So between the United States and Canada, our family started leaving Egypt. Well, you already, roughly what year? During the seventies, my family, during the 1970s made the decision.

 

Cannot live with that system here anymore. So we start preparing to leave for the country. So your question, what may inspire you. So when you experience it, see my experience here, it's different than the Canadian who born in Calgary or Canada. I have seen how things work and then slowly that you rate and become really bad beyond the point of notice.

 

This thing's happening in Canada and in our city. So I made a commitment to myself that when I come to Canada, I do my best to be part of the solution. Funny enough, when I met with that Canadian ambassador Integra to receive my paper, that the interest to Canada, he looked at my. Do you have a point system?

 

And then he said to me, do you speak other languages? I said, yes. So I started speaking to me in German, I guess that he started laughing. I said, you got 96 points. You and I have no room to give you more. And then he said that were to be more than 40 years ago. He said, I'm going to send you to Albert. So you are an engineer.

 

I'm going to send you there to contribute to your experience and knowledge to this province 40 years ago or more. I heard to support. So a combined nation. Now you see life experience, shape your character between the example of my father, who was an eye doctor, and he had the kidney disease that took his life at 30 agent 42.

 

Yeah, he committed one of his clinics. He had two clinics beside his work in the hospital. They committed one of those clinics to teach the poor, to treat the poor free. And so the last minute before he had passed away, He never complained about his spin and never stopped temping. Hmm. Wow. After he passed away, we discovered that we didn't have any money.

 

He didn't leave any money. Really? He did. Yeah. People were surprised. And then my mother see, I was 11 and half. My youngest brother was four, six gets, he lived there. And then my mother explained to us, right, there was nobody. She said that your father philosophy was to leave an example. That's not money, but he maybe didn't expect to write that young because when he was alive, we lived the lecture.

 

And after, after he passed away from the top to the bottom, but watch. That's the ask me what inspired me to involve was community and help or participate. Opening my service here in that male position, the people who used to treat for free, they came together and wrote the letters to the president.

 

They said this guy was helpful to us and help with the community. He used to contribute to projects in the communities, but he passed away and he had no pinch. So the president NASA at that time issued an order for partial pension because of that letter. Wow. You saved my father philosophy proved to me.

 

It works. When you invest in people, then investing come back to you. And that's how we my mother was her sacrifice and example. She was able to work all of us in a university and to keep teaching us the values of work. And that's how we ended up as a family. It was very limited income able to, you know, be all my family actually has the CA intention to contribute to community.

 

So all of this shaped my, my personality. Now, after this Brian, I believe I am the only candidate to 20. Who has the matching experience to manage your corporation? You see there's certain categories of corporation and its unique corporation start a business. Many people make a mistake. I'm a businessman.

 

I come to the city. There is a mistake here. Why? Because the businessman has people working for him and he signed the front of the chair. So they have to say yourself all the time, but some of they think that they can take that experience to the council. No, the mayor does not sign the check for the counselor.

 

Therefore they need a different system to manage. And that's where many candidate is under the assumption that the business experience, when I help them turn the city, no, you need to have unique experience in people management, which I have a degree in this. Last have a technical background, it would be it's like understanding transportation.

 

Well, that's part of my background, understanding how to build the best green light, understanding how to protect the city against flood all this. Combined together, give me the qualifications for the job. So since I came to the stage in my life where I fulfilled most of my dreams, I do not need another job.

 

I do not need the money. And that's why I am the only that it has three characters distinguished me from everybody. I am the one who committed to term limits two terms. I committed to this. When I ran in 2017, I was the only one among the 10 people running committed to term limits number two, and this is a very good test prime for the people who want to short list.

 

Okay. I love the people in Calgary, which I lived here for over 30 years. Now, you can see your friends, your relatives, liberals, safari, lost a job, or have to take a measure cut. And in this city of one, almost 1.5 minutes. We are looking not for 1500, 15,000. We are looking for what, this is a very important point, right?

 

We're looking for 15, 15 people. We call them the council, the mayor and the councilors. So those 15 people has to be very special people. They have to show a different characteristics and commitment. None of the people running, especially the one that the media has committed themselves to take a pay cut, to show that the really relate to people suffering.

 

You see that that's a very important test. I committed myself. To take 35% cut, really 75. Why? Because I looked at other people in private sector, private sector. You can be hired today and fired tomorrow yet they took over 20% cuts and mayor getting 40 years guaranteed job or more. If they want to stick around to make a career out of the rent is willing to take even 5% cut.

 

I think that is critical that the voters should. Be smart and outsmart those career politicians and everybody who's willing to commit to term limits, not willing to take a pay. Cut the significant one, not just a symbolic 5%. They should immediately remove them out of them. A shortlist because those people are dressed the same typical career politicians.

 

They just tell you what you want to hear. And then when they get there, they enjoy that you salary and the perks, and they don't do anything because they don't have the qualification. And then all the master is to explain to you why things didn't. Well, I mean that people should get maybe half a point and time they say enough is enough.

 

We aren't. We had enough of those politicians who didn't have any quantification and don't have the decency to dig a decent big cut to lead by example. Interesting. So email, I'm going to, I like to take this on maybe in a little different direction and that's okay. As a result of my interest in my background and my lack of interest, maybe in that, that part of me, maybe like politics actually.

 

So what I find myself as being in quite a unique position, because I love doing this podcast. I love it in the title of Calgary, living real estate and lifestyle. It's more, but I get to interview. Interesting folks like yourself about, you know, life in Calgary. And and, and so, and so the, the, and I'm interested in like how you're stepping up to be a leader in our city and what caused you to come to bring to that.

 

And in terms of, I personally feel like, I guess I should admit. There's been lots of elections where I just don't vote because I don't become informed. And I feel like, how could I vote? And so in this section, I'm probably going to vote FYI. But that's just a little bit of sharing of, you know, me.

 

I was a very involved in student politics in high school and really have not been since. So I'm very curious and very interested in, and I want to say thank you. I appreciate you for stepping up and wanting this leadership position. Tell me a little bit about your life. Tell me about some of your real estate decisions and are your kids in Calgary now currently, you know, I moved to Calgary for a number of reasons, the, of the city, the rolling Hills, the green area, I love green areas.

 

And of course the mountains, that's the number one reason made me move from Edmond to Calgary. Excuse me. And then of course I realized later that the people, the people. And I mean tell the kids to enter, but not really ship something. I relate to all these things, attracted me to Calgary and I purchase a house.

 

And my aunt, I believe that was my first purchase. Also. I got quite a bit with interstate people because I used to have land in big valley and I was selling the land. So I have a good experience with a real estate team. And buying and selling real estate. And as a person, again, with a engineering background in urban planning and stuff like that, I have a master plan for the city, right.

 

And the estate people are going to be busy because we have the largest land per capita in north America. So we can build the most. Liverpool a sophisticated city was that a modern transportation system was variety of buildings. You know, then Egypt. People come to look at all those things like, or the pyramids, my philosophy has you built the pyramids once and you make money out with forever.

 

When I went to Europe, for example, I've been in almost more than 20 countries and was Canadian and. I met a ton of tourists and watched them because I lived in Europe. I worked in Europe for many years, but some of them coming for the first time, Canadians and Americans and others, and they're taking pictures of you see?

 

So, and buildings for me as thinks that tobacco tourists kind of remembered it once, then we'll make money from it forever. So I'm going to pay attention. To have to have cities, buildings, and construction and stuff that attract tourists to come and look at and take pictures beside it. So that's how are you related to your background in real estate buildings?

 

Construction. As that's what you hear from a civil engineer as a cylinder engineer. So when I was sort of wanting to take on this project on, you know, interviewing as many of these mural, you know, yourself, mural, mural, candidates as possible, I asked my, you know, social media group and friends. Hey, what if you were like, what do you want to know for your next mirror?

 

And Michelle asked question Where do they, where do you stand on bike lanes as a civil engineer? What's your, what's your stance on bike lanes? Yeah. You see, I just finished telling you about the master plan Verdeans. Many of them love biking and that's a very Hep C attitude too. Try to use biking for transportation or just for exercise.

 

And we have the land. As I mentioned to you, we have the largest maybe biking lanes in the country. So we have to build in that when you have a master plan for the city, you have also to incorporate the idea that this generation loves biking. Biking is a healthy exercise, so we gotta make room for it. I don't quite understand a little bit about the, how this election is different from other elections in terms of donors.

 

But someone asked the question, who are your biggest donors and what your donors expect from you? Email? Yeah, in my history, Brian, I never had any double notice that the one you call them interest group. And that's what distinguished me again from the other candidates, my history. And my current situation here, I do not seek any donation from interest group.

 

And that's why this election is critical. Right? If you have people receiving donation from influential person or union, you, unless a few came from a different planet, that individual loyalty is to the donor for two reasons. Because the donor makes this agreement with stem. I'm going to support you in the return of this numbers too.

 

And the voters are smart and then the cash is point that's kind of what did it mean to have Facebook to that donor? Because they will need their help in the next election because they are a career politician. So if they satisfy their needs during the first term, they're going to help them in the first and snacks there because they want to make politics.

 

That's why you can understand the importance of term limits. Okay. So I do not see any specific groups to help me, but I take small donations just for the expense of that compete. I tell you a funny story last time. One person came to me. I said, I wanted a thousand dollars. I find the figure is big.

 

So I said, what if I went? And then they give you this money back, you start adding back and forth. So I called, I called the lecture category. I said, is there any rules again, it's me giving this money back to the person. If I was elected, they said, well, actually, there's those specific. That's my philosophy, Brian, if you'll get mentioned donors and you come back to me and said, I need a favor from you.

 

I give you a $10. I will have two buckets here. One has a whole bunch of $10 and one has a loony. So when you come and ask me for a favor, Because he gave me 10 or $15. I'll give you the 50 back for them. Wow. Well what about, how do you win an election email? This is your third time through like, what are you, what are you doing?

 

Like it's a daunting job. W how do you like, tell him, like, get the word out on your, on your, your, your, on yourself, I guess, on your campaign, which I don't really have not much interest in the campaign. I want to know the person. How, how do you win. Well, I tell you what, for me, I gave it back around the engineering we look at for my lesson, right?

 

You're an, a little goal. You must know how to win an election. So the strategy this time is you don't have venture running. So that's a courageous equation. The other thing is I am the only one competing from the next day after the election of 2007. Hm, I can't under social media. I said, I'm going to be running a gate.

 

So for the last four years, I've been campaigning on social media. I have used supporters like, you know, by the response people. And that's why many people think I have a good chance this time, because people are looking now for what they call it, the door. What we have is two options. So far career politicians, Rocky counselor.

 

They couldn't stay for more than one turban jump into big job. We have low experience. Like two of them has a history of voting against the wishes of the people. That is again, Ms. Stevenson on that history shows that the vote against the wish of the people. And now, how do you think these cells going to fool the people and then fuck us was trying to call him my student because us, before he was elected, last time he came.

 

I sent that one to meet with you had, we met in a Starbucks and he spent an hour asking questions and want to learn from my experience. And I shared with him the idea of term limits and shared the idea was we have to have more town hall meetings and he did exactly what he heard. So he was doing town hall meetings like every month or something.

 

Yeah. If you'll go back to my website in 2017 or my current book site, I was promoting this idea. You got to listen to the people. So focus. But he always tried to defend himself even. And he say, I am not Mr. I don't know. But you see the problem here is no experience in even those three people at the top, the medium and the bottom at the top, they're never given habit history of running live on the stand successfully.

 

And now the sophisticated city, they don't have any experience. So, I mean, you have those three and then you have a whole. Presenting some nice ideas, but they have no clue what the problem is. Who is the council? Because they keep talking about collaboration. Oh, when they come and make them work together, I already answered that this is not a business.

 

This is an organization unique. We have received money from the taxpayer. As it comes up and we decide how much we get from them. And then we are responsible to spend them twice. They, and honestly, that's different though, running a business. So they don't seem to understand the concept if they don't understand the concept.

 

And you think when it comes to the concert and make them work together and it's not going to work, then the whole system would collapse because what really deciding what happened in your daily life, Brian, and it's decided by those suits. Gee, what time is flying already? I want to ask you some rapid, think of them as rapid fire questions.

 

It's your first day in the mirror's office. Who are you calling to set up meetings with? I will call all the counselors because many of them knew. And I will introduce as a new management system have demand. The council and how to deal with the people. The system is very sophisticated. I used it and I learned it in my career and the system required the customers to go to their communities, provide information and education, and then come back and take the feedback from them.

 

And I put it in that program. It's a management program. I don't like it. The information then when we can come up with, I share it with all the counselors, then you go back to the community to say, we're talking here about, should we have in the Olympics or not? So you go back to their communities and you continue to share information until we have a clear idea, which what is the direction that the people want to take, go for the Olympics or not.

 

And this way we can vote the wishes of the majority using this monitoring management. And this way, if you are a union member or if you are somebody donor, it doesn't matter. You are not going to get away with that. You have to follow the system. And I'm going to ask for the mandates, from the people to apply the system.

 

So this way I will eliminate anybody who trying to force their own opinion or they don't. That was the, on the Olympics. I'm just like, I can't stop thinking about it. Why were the Olympics not? W I, I think we, as a city said, no, we don't want them. Is that true? And, and, and was that a good idea? No. See, I presented my idea.

 

As I mentioned to Brian on social media, I sent a snuck. Yes. It's not, no, you will never find me in the open. I always present the north bend. I said, it's not just now we are not ready for it. Now, do you know that during the last Olympics, I was doing some research at the university of Calgary and I've met with all the athletes because.

 

And there was a moment. I did pride having discipline came to speak those athletes. I love I'm very active person. I practice lots of sports, but we were not financially or from the safety point of view. Imagine now, if we went for the Olympics and with this economic situation today, That was probably a good, I guess it sounds like it was a good idea that we said no, what was that?

 

Two or three years ago. Yeah, but I'm not saying no for her, like for good. No, just the timing was wrong, but the idea, I love it. It lived in Edmonton. What do you think of that? Let's talk about the high-speed train between Edmonton and Calgary. What's your opinion on that? Yeah. I will be one of my campaign secrets to you.

 

I will be the chair. Interesting. Either the company or working for another company, I like competition. I will champion that. Why so many benefits? You don't have to drive and pollute the air was your cards. You don't have to be tired getting to Edmonton. You've got to save money. So there is so many benefits of having that festival.

 

But later on Brian, I will feel more pitches about my plan, but you are the first one to know that I'm going to be the champion for that stress. Interesting. I, as, as our, as our oil and gas, I mean, seems to be changing and that we should, I understanding that we should maybe look more like tech as a, you know, as a city in the future.

 

I'm surprised a little bit that you know, you're, you're so confident on that. High-speed train. I mean, I, I ended up, I don't, well, I guess I'm just a little surprised that that's still a movement forward. You know Brian, I'm a forward thinker and I had the opportunity to live in so many different countries.

 

Germany. If you been in Germany, Horia visit Japan, modern transportation has streets, and that's where the people are going to get on the train because today. How would enlarge T is a better than taxpayer. It doesn't make money. That green line and the current design is still going to be burdened because there is not enough rent of ship.

 

But when I build something fast, like in Germany or Japan, people love fast because they need to save time. There is a major constitute behind it and Once you have some attractive idea, like this investors are going to come, like it's not going to be the whole question of how are we going to afford it?

 

Any brilliant idea attracted. So you will hear more about my details. There is just one piece of the puzzle I'm giving you, but my master plan for this city is more elaborate than that. We're going to take it to the next century. Awesome. This question may be for you as a, you know, as an engineer. Is there any reasonable, sensible, alternative to market value assessment?

 

Oh, yes. Yeah, but I'm not going to reveal that. No, yes. Yes. That is smart. That's you see? That's the difference here? I have a comprehensive. Plan everybody running have slogans, buzzwords. I haven't planned. What you just mentioned is going to be part of my plan because sophisticated transportation master plan for the city, all this work together, piece of puzzle needs, somebody has experienced in how to put it together and understand the language when you speak to the engineers and the city.

 

I understand the language so I can chat with them. But if you don't understand it, And you're not a mayor. And he talked to you about the design for the green line, and then you find it don't know what you're talking about using lingo. And then you had to. So once you had the project to the bureaucrats and the voters should realize that one of the deception, the bureaucrats are not bad people, they are hired people.

 

Their main concern is that the department of budget that they can get, how can we get them fixed budget? How am I going to get promotion? That's human nature, but they are not hired to look after the best interest of Calgary. And that's why we have politicians. They are elected on the trust basis. So that's why, if you, at this junction of our city history, having a mayor who has this background and knowledge can challenge the bureaucrats and the engineers.

 

And if I was a mayor 10 years ago, Brian, I tell you the green line will be built. Okay. Interesting. Very good. I just kinda, in the sake of time, have two more questions. I'd like to just quickly touch on maybe something around the arts and maybe something around our emissions reduction plan and the earth What will you do to ensure?

 

Oh no, no. The question is, what part do you see the arts playing in society as we emerged from the effects of COVID? This is a question from my friend, Brendan. It's a very deep question to me, cause I already gave you a hint. When I spoke about the pyramids or the tools in Egypt and people was inside the tunes and see the paint that lasts a thousand years and it was done once.

 

And they make billions of dollars every year on the day of is one of the things I strongly believe in it. If we have the arts that attract people and tourists to come, we're going to have tons of money. It's not saying we didn't want it. So I would say is a very smart idea to pay attention to this big Ukrainian, you know, that big Hagan, I guess.

 

Yeah. I seen it in a magazine. I don't think I've been there, gender something about the queen of England and lady that have seen everything on the planet and have seen since nobody has access to it. When she came to Canada, then one visit, she made a point to go and look at this. You see where we at?

 

Where is it? This egg? It's a small town. I started with the letter B the Vulcan. No, if I'm in no eggs, we'll figure it out. And we'll see a beautiful Britain, even celebrity. And if the queen will come to visit, other people are going to come and the people in that town, whenever we start them and making money out of the store.

 

So yeah, if you use it properly, it is one of the magic ways to enhance the garden. And how will you ensure that kalbi plays its part regarding emissions reduction and the clearly critical net zero target. Yes, of course, you know, I lived in kindy for more than 70 years. I never heard anybody said I love this factory next to my house, the smoke and the smell.

 

That was fun. As I know them, they love the union space. They run in the weekend. So the Greek area and we all love greed. And that's why I talked to you earlier about the master plan for the city. If you have a master plan for the coming 50 or a hundred years and make the city livable. Okay. What happened in Ontario, you or in China?

 

We, we aren't in our way. If we continue plan the city this week, you know one of the meetings of the Scotland council, there was an agreement among them and one of them, the council stood up and said our plan so far to the city. I would describe this as hodgepodge. That is a word from a counselor in the current hodgepodge.

 

So I'm going to put a plan to them to look at master plan, including sophisticated Fest, transportation all those kinds of buildings and green space. So this way. We can practically achieve our goal of cutting on emission and cards. When you have a high speed, high eliminate number of cars, you realize that cars are major contributors to.

 

I would think so. So when, when I, when I champion this fast rate, look, how many cars will it be? Hybrid highway do. Nice. So I'm practical person. I don't give a pie in the sky promises, but I believe. Being green and our thinking and make this transition from oil because oil will disappear. I used to be consultant companies.

 

How do we have this? Say every day becomes less and less than the ground and one day disappear. So we have to be prepared for the future. There's no doubt. Emil, I guess I'm just coming to an end three street sort of questions. How do people reach out? What if someone wants to support you? How can they best support you?

 

And if you had a billboard in Calgary, you know, what would it say? And I guess, yeah, I guess it's really just two questions. How do people reach out to you? What will your billboard say? And Well, is this two questions? Yeah. Yes. Okay. The way they can reach out to me is there is a sway as my website, which is I can give you the address, email E M I and then their number four.

 

So email four.

 

Okay for  dot com. That's the way to reach out to me. And if you want to make the nation outside now to have, can I get, can I get a lung sign? I don't really use that. It's kind of joking. I'm not getting aligned on that. No, I never used those to damage them, steal them. I'm heavy on social media. You would find me all over the place on social media.

 

Good, good. And what would your billboards. All right. And actually that was my question that I kept thinking of. What is your ask of Calgarians and maybe that would be on your bull billboard? I don't know. I asked her if I can get in, which is going to be in my website. Is that sophisticated idea? I came up with with score the points.

 

Yeah. You have 22 people running for the mayor. You have the 90, some people ran for councilor. Don't go and ask them about who's gonna, how you gonna remove snow for you or garbage don't waste your time in the selection on this things. Focus on five important points. Right. And in the forum or debates, ask us five questions.

 

Are you willing to commit to term limits two terms? Are you willing to commit to Jacob pay cut in your salary? Number three. What do you contract to more town hall meetings and listen to the people, not give me your own opinion when that comes from one, two, and then question number four. What kind of skills are you bringing?

 

So the council that we can make use of bending, managing the city efficiently and properly. And the last question is who is your donor? What are you willing to declare your donor is because if those people are supported by special interest group or influential donor, take them out immediately.

 

So that's very good question. Yeah, thank you. I wrote them down. I wish you the best luck in what you do and really you don't do good service to our city. Thank you and mil. I really appreciate your work and you standing up to be our next leader. I'm wishing you all the success and looking forward to hearing the results.

 

What is it? October 12th, October 18th emails are numeric. Oh, well, the first one I said, that's a, hopefully a heaven, heaven would open, but seriously, I don't, like I said, I'm not for the money, not for the position I wanted the passion, the giving back. I'm giving back my debt to this country that gives me the opportunity.

 

Well, Calgarians, thank you for your interest and your sharing. And I, I really appreciate it. And thanks for taking the time to be on the show today. All right.