Press release
The Board of Trade reiterates its call for a more coherent, effective approach to local economic development
Montréal, April 25, 2012 – As part of public consultations about local economic development in the urban agglomeration of Montréal, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal presented its recommendations before the Commission permanente sur le développement économique et urbain et l’habitation yesterday evening. The President and CEO of the Board of Trade, Michel Leblanc, reiterated the importance of rationalizing and simplifying the local economic development network and ensuring greater cooperation between economic development organizations within the urban agglomeration of Montréal.
“The Montréal metropolitan area ranks 30th among 32 major North American cities in terms of wealth,” Michel Leblanc said. “Given this fact, we need to rationalize the CLD and CDEC network to improve our performance when it comes to economic development. A strategy based on a vision of economic development for the entire urban agglomeration of Montréal would eliminate issues of territoriality and institute a new spirit of cooperation between the different organizations, thereby increasing our productivity.”
“It is also essential to create an effective, simple system throughout the entrepreneurial chain, ensuring synergy and greater fluidity between partner organizations for the benefit of entrepreneurs,” Michel Leblanc said.
“Finally, while the Government of Québec remains the main funder of local economic development, shaping the system within the urban agglomeration is up to municipal officials,” Michel Leblanc said. “They have to take responsibility and send a clear message to the Government of Québec about the need to rationalize and simplify the system.”
In summary, the Board of Trade’s recommendations are as follows:
- The CLDs and CDECs on the Island of Montréal should be grouped into six organizations, financed from the same budgets as those for existing organizations. The operating expenditures of local economic development organizations would be reduced through economies of scale, and greater investments could be devoted to creating and consolidating businesses in Montréal.
- A global approach should be adopted for the urban agglomeration – a “Montréal-wide vision” – which would allow for better cooperation between key players in local economic development, greater mobilization and greater coherence in organizing local economic development.
- The Government of Québec should address funding inequities for local development organizations in Montréal and award funding, at the very least, based on the city’s demographic weight within Québec, i.e. 25% of the available budget.
The brief can be consulted by clicking here (in French only, English to come): http://www.ccmm.qc.ca/memoire_developpement_economique_local
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has some 7,000 members. Its primary mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montréal and to provide individuals, merchants, and businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is Quebec’s leading private economic development organization.
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Source:
Sylvie Paquette
Advisor, Media Relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4015
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca
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