Press release
The president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
appointed to the External advisory committee on municipalities
Montreal, February 16, 2004 Mr. Benoit Labonté, president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, will sit on the External advisory committee on municipalities at the request of the prime minister of Canada.
This committee, whose creation was officially announced yesterday in Ottawa, will be chaired by Mike Harcourt, former premier of British Columbia and former mayor of Vancouver. The committee's mandate centres on the following three objectives:
| | Develop, in co-operation with the prime minister of Canada, a long-term vision of the role that should be played by cities in maintaining quality of life, environmental health, and the cohesion and competitiveness of Canada; |
| | Advise the prime minister on the value of policies proposed by the government that are linked, in general, to the action plan for cities; |
| | Help to develop a national ten-year strategy for Canadian cities that will reconcile the national imperative ensuring that cities of all sizes are viable, competitive, and habitable with provincial powers and municipal priorities. |
Given the great importance attached by the Board of Trade over the past two years to the crucial role that metropolitan municipalities must play as engines of not only economic but also cultural, social, and environmental development, I was both pleased and eager to accept this voluntary mandate entrusted to me by the prime minister. This appointment will enable the Board of Trade to remain at the centre of the debate on this question, which has become vital at the regional, provincial, and national levels, and to fully play its role as a contributory and responsible player, declared Labonté.
This small, non-partisan committee composed of fifteen members chosen from across Canada must submit its final report by June 2005 at the latest.
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 the Greater Montreal region and, as a contributing and responsible player, to promote the economic development of the urban area. Encompassing three specialized services (Info entreprises, the Electronic Commerce Institute and World Trade Centre Montréal) that serve merchants and businesses of all sizes throughout Quebec and Canada, the Board of Trade is Quebec's leading private economic development organization.
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Source:
Sylvie Paquette
Coordinator, Media relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: (514) 871-4000, ext. 4015
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca Prime Minister's press release: http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news.asp?id=79
