More than 600 participants will travel to the Olympic Stadium on Monday as part of the Eastern Summit, the culmination of an approach launched earlier this year to stimulate the economic development of the eastern portion of the territory of the island of Montreal, long unloved.
“I expect for the occasion more than 500 million commitments announced for the East of Montreal,” says Jean-Denis Charest, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of East of Montreal, an organization at the heart of the East to East initiative.
“Our objective, when we launched the movement in the spring which brings together nine partners,” adds Mr. Charest, “is to make a call for action and the mobilization of the active forces of civil society so that they can forward of projects that would contribute to the revitalization of the territory. We are also launching a call to action to the three levels of government to mobilize. »
PHOTO ARCHIVES THE PRESS
Jean-Denis Charest, CEO of the Eastern Montreal Chamber of Commerce
Provincial ministers Pierre Fitzgibbon, France-Élaine Duranceau and Chantal Rouleau are expected at the event. The federal government is not left out. Ministers Steven Guilbeault, Soraya Martinez Ferrada and Pablo Rodriguez will be present. The mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, and that of Montreal East, Anne St-Laurent, are also on the program.
“The Eastern Summit will be the moment when we will unveil the various commitments that have been made by the signatories of the pact for the East,” says Jean-Denis Charest, who expects to see nearly fifty commitments from civil society; In addition, announcements are expected from the three levels of government.
Impatient, some partners have already made their investment public.
Mainbourg Corporation and its financial partners, including the government of Quebec, the City of Montreal, Desjardins, New Market Fund and the Chagnon Foundation, announced the acquisition of 720 housing units in the 8 buildings of Domaine La Rousselière, in Pointe-aux-Trembles , which thus come under the control of a non-profit organization. The cost of this transaction is more than $120 million.
Also, Ministers Guilbeault (Environment) and Martinez Ferrada (Tourism) are extending 8 million for the protection of green spaces and for the acquisition of land, by the City of Montreal, in the Assomption Sud–Longue-Pointe sector located in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault
At the end of October, Éco Entreprises Québec and Matrec launched work on the future sorting center for recyclable materials on the east of the island of Montreal. Sucre Lantic and Collège de Maisonneuve have also already made announcements.
Our objective is to send the message that the revitalization of Eastern Montreal is happening now and that it is the greatest opportunity of the next 10 to 20 years.
Jean-Denis Charest, CEO of the Eastern Montreal Chamber of Commerce
Nothing planned for the REM de l’Est
Unfortunately, a decision regarding the structuring public transportation network for the East of Montreal, an essential element for the takeoff of its economy, is not on the program.
“You saw that the ARTM [l’instance responsable] had to postpone his report for a few weeks, so I don’t expect everything to be resolved at the top, explains Mr. Charest. We expect to learn, at least minimally, where we are in relation to the planning of the Eastern REM, but I will let the governments answer the questions. »