In-person Conference Program

Mezzanine – Hotel Rimouski

Mezzanine – Hotel Rimouski

With Stéphane Lauzon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Rural Economic Development, and member of Parliament, Argenteuil-La Petite-Nation; Dr. Heather Hall, University of Waterloo.

An exploration of the opportunities and issues in rural Canadian communities from the perspective of the Government of Canada and the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation.

​

Langevin Ouellet Room

• Workshop 1 (EN) – People, Places and Culture: Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage as a Tool for Community Development.

  • With Terra Barrett from the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and Kristin Catherwood from Heritage Saskatchewan.
     

  • Monseigneur Leonard Room

​

• Workshop 2 (EN) – Maximize your Impact: Creating a Community Buy-in Strategy.

  • With Sophie Nagle, Director of Advancement and Communications, Phelps Helps, and Katie Lowry, Programs Director, Phelps Helps
     

  • Saint Laurent Room
     

• Workshop 3 – Virtual and In-person – Powering Prosperity: The Impacts of Connectivity on Rural Communities and What It Will Take to Get It Done – With Presenting Conference Sponsor TELUS®

  • Moderator: Caroline Arbour. Panelists: Nathalie Dionne, acting VP Home Solutions & Customer Excellence, TELUS Quebec; Kara Westerlund, Regional Municipalities of Alberta Vice President and Councillor in Brazeau County, AB; Randy Jones, CEDEC and former Mayor of Gros-Mécatina; Alfred Loon, President, Eeyou Communications Network.
    
    Connectivity is more than wires and Netflix. It’s a foundational enabler that delivers education, digital healthcare, economic opportunity, modern sustainable agriculture, social connection and community. While Canadians in urban centres take these things for granted, the journey to full remote, rural, and indigenous connectivity continues. This panel will feature rural community leaders who will share the impact that connectivity has had on their communities, the challenges they’ve faced and the lessons they learned.
     

  • Langevin Ouellet Room

• Workshop 4 (EN) – CEDEC Collaborative Ventures

  • This workshop will present CEDEC’s Collaborative Economic Development approach and the public, private, and civil society (PPCS) stakeholders from communities who are working together. Featured communities will highlight two ventures: one in which PPCS partners are collaborating to employ qualified Black talent in available jobs in Greater Montreal; the other where PPCS partners are collaborating to increase tourist traffic and spend in the shared interprovincial tourism space between the Côte-Nord, the Lower North Shore, and Labrador and Newfoundland.
     

  • Monseigneur Leonard Room

​

• Workshop 5 (FR) – Pratiques de concertation en milieu rural au Bas-Saint-Laurent (Consultation Practices in Rural Areas of the Bas-Saint-Laurent)

  • With UQAR (Moderators: Yann Fournis, GRIDEQ-UQAR and Maria Anastasaki, OVSS. Panelists: Marc Fraser, TREM-BSL; Mylène Blanchette, TCBBSL; Mylène Vézina, Municipalité de St-Valérien; Sophie Lajoie, MRC de La Mitis; Philippe Guilbert, Municipalité de Trois-Pistoles)
    
    Since the abolition of the Conférence régionale des élus (CRÉ) in 2015, regional governance has evolved in the Bas-Saint-Laurent. Consultation and coordination between various actors (political, economic, community), which was one of the missions of the Conférence, tends to be organized at other levels, local and supralocal. At the same time, municipalities are now required to redefine their development by integrating issues such as the ecological transition and social development, which require dialogue between different stakeholders. How is this new demand for local consultation and coordination being achieved in the rural municipalities of Bas-Saint-Laurent? What are the obstacles and facilitators? To answer these questions, the workshop aims to encourage exchanges between different actors involved in formal or informal consultation initiatives in the region, but who do not usually have the opportunity to meet.
     

  • Saint Laurent Room

​

• Workshop 6 – Virtual and In-person – Co-operative Conversion: Helping to Safeguard Jobs & Local Businesses

  • With Daniel Brunette, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada.
    
    Business Conversions to Co-operatives (BCCs) take place when private, public, or non-profit entities transition for a variety of possible reasons, including succession planning, into a co-operative corporation. This can prevent the closure of locally based businesses and the elimination of economic drivers, including many in small and rural communities.
     

  • Langevin Ouellet Room
     

Hotel Rimouski Restaurant

• Route 1: A Historic and Artistic Horticultural Journey

​

• Route 2: A Historic and Scientific Maritime Journey

Langevin Ouellet Room

Langevin Ouellet Room