The tenth edition of the Strategic Forum on Transportation and Logistics was held June 16, 2021 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
With Quebec’s Minister of Transport, François Bonnardel, and the Mayor of Montréal, Valérie Plante, in attendance, over 350 participants and close to 30 panelists gathered virtually to discuss strategic infrastructure projects for Greater Montréal, the contribution of the transportation and logistics sector to the green, innovative relaunch of the economy, and the challenges involved in moving people and goods.
“We want a green relaunch. And that depends on the electrification of transportation, public transit, and a revitalized downtown. To achieve this, people need to have confidence in public transit.” – Michel Leblanc, president and CEO, Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
“We need to strike a balance between fluidity and security. That’s what rethinking mobility means.” – Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal
“The three main points to cover to ensure public transit is appealing are duration, cost, and comfort.” – François Bonnardel, Quebec’s Minister of Transport
“Ensuring the mobility of people and goods is an important issue for the future, both in urban centres and the outskirts.” – Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport for Canada
Block 1 – Strengthening the city’s strategic infrastructures
Transportation strategic assets: Key to the economic recovery
“Investments have been made in the past to maximize the Port Authority. The Contrecoeur terminal is a natural extension for Montréal’s activities. The important milestones have all been reached recently to launch the construction site.” – Paul Bird, Vice-President, Contrecoeur, Montreal Port Authority
“The fuel for the recovery is vaccination; it will bring more traffic. Thanks to the vaccination program, which is going well, we anticipate a rapid relaunch.” – Martin R. Landry, Chief Commercial Officer, VIA Rail Canada
An Act respecting the acceleration of certain infrastructure projects: a vector of success for the transportation industry
“We can hope that the laws that have been passed to facilitate the realization of infrastructure projects will be in line with other measures the government wants to promote in terms of building transportation projects and that this desire to use construction as a driver of the relaunch will be a success.” – André Vautour, Partner, Commercial Law Group, Lavery Lawyers
Block 2 – Ensuring the revival of passenger transportation
Air transportation: Ready to relaunch
“The air transportation sector needs a clear plan and visibility to relaunch its industry. Travel for business or pleasure is a real catalyst for our economy and should be for the relaunch.” – Joseph Adamo, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Transat A.T. Inc.
Public transit in Greater Montréal: An essential service
“We have to work with the business world and schools on flexible, modular fee schedules. Public transit is an efficient, and, above all, safe way to travel; we need to reiterate this to restore confidence among users of public transit.” – Christine Brasseur, Executive Director – Customer Experience, Exo | Réseau de transport métropolitain
Block 3 – Seizing business opportunities in transportation and logistics
Solutions to the challenge of metropolitan logistics
“There is an opportunity to bring together the express package, freight, and public transit industry. For example, the REM will open a lot of doors.” – Khelil Khelil, Manager, Business Research and Development, Purolator
Towards more sustainable freight transport
“We are fortunate in Quebec and Canada to be leaders in the green relaunch. There will be more funds for businesses to respond to environmental challenges. Take advantage of them and let’s work together to succeed – governments, universities, industries, businesses, and all actors in the supply chain.” – Marie-Chantal Savoy, Vice-President, Strategy and Communications, Logistec
Engineering Net Zero: Transition to carbon neutrality
“In Quebec, electrification is the largest decarbonisation initiative. It is possible to make major gains in greenhouse gas emissions with the electrification of different sectors focused on the consumer: cars and light trucks, as well as residential and residential buildings.” – Ramy Azar, Vice-President, Engineering, and CTO Grid Solutions and Renewables, SNC-Lavalin
Speech by Sophie Mauzerolle
“To succeed in the massive electrification of travel, innovation and partnerships will be essential.” – Sophie Mauzerolle, Ville de Montréal Executive Committee member, responsible for urban planning, the Ville’s electrification strategy and the Office de consultation publique de Montréal
Positioning Greater Montréal as a leader in transportation electrification
“We need to change how we use resources – consuming them and then disposing of them – and instead create the circular economy. The electrification of transportation cannot happen otherwise.” – Benoit Couture, President, Lithion Recycling
The green aircraft of tomorrow
“In the next 20 years, 35% of demand in aviation will come from replacing aircraft. By accelerating these replacements, we can set an upper limit on the carbon footprint. But we need to go even further and rely on green technologies: electricity, hydrogen, and more intensive use of biofuel.” – Philippe Balducchi, President and CEO, Airbus Canada
About the Strategic Forum on Transportation and Logistics
The Strategic Forum on Transportation and Logistics was organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and presented by CN. It was made possible through the invaluable cooperation of our Gold sponsors: the gouvernement du Québec, Lavery Lawyers, SNC-Lavalin and the Ville de Montréal; and our Silver sponsors: Montreal Gazette, the Palais des congrès de Montréal, and the Port of Montreal; as well as our Bronze sponsors: Exo and YUL - Aéroports international Montréal-Trudeau. The event is part of the Relaunch MTL metropolitan economic movement.