Economic Diversification Fund of the MRC des Appalaches: To be part or the solution, you have to change the criteria!

Mercredi 23 juin 2021, par Martin Fecteau

After three years of existence, only $7.4 million has been disbursed out of the $50 million available.

VERSION FRANÇAISE 

THETFORD MINES, JUNE 23, 2021. Widely denounced by the region's elected officials when it was announced in June 2017, and repeatedly afterwards for these criteria that are inappropriate to the region's needs, the Economic Diversification Fund of the MRC des Appalaches, of the Government of Quebec, is a failure. After three years of existence, only $7.4 million has been disbursed out of the $50 million available. Presented at the time as an important lever for development, the fund expires on March 31, 2023. Worse still, only $450,000 was disbursed for the non-refundable portion of the $7.5 million set aside in the fund. This data was obtained under the access to information act.

"In our context of the collapse of our mining industry due to a political decision, a unique situation in the history of Quebec, intergenerational equity requires special measures, specific criteria to diversify our economy in a structuring support approach. We are not talking here about municipal equipment; we are talking about structuring projects that have been waiting for years. The recapitalization of the Thetford Regional Capital Expansion Fund (CERT), the construction of the Agri-Food Processing Centre, the development of the Mount Adstock Recreation and Tourism Centre and the Bell Mine Industrial Park are tangible examples of projects deemed ineligible for the fund due to the criteria inappropriate to our situation. For these four projects alone, more than 25 million in investments are involved. In the long term, at the current rate, barely $12 million will have been used in the provincial fund," commented Marc-Alexandre Brousseau, Mayor of Thetford and President of the Société de développement économique de la région de Thetford (SDE).

"From the beginning, and many times thereafter, we have denounced the situation to the government. It must be said that we were right. In many respects, Investissement Québec's (IQ) traditional programs and funds are more attractive to promoters than the provincial Diversification Fund. It is deplorable and incomprehensible that the government is still deaf to our representations. We are simply not able to carry out our structuring projects, to move forward with our projects, to continue our diversification. The government has less than 20 months to change course and help us! As such, the criteria of the defunct Canadian Initiative for the Economic Diversification of Communities Dependent on Chrysotile should guide the changes, " commented Paul Vachon, Mayor of Kinnear's Mills and Prefect of the MRC des Appalaches. The Prefect concluded by reminding that the MRC is a local, accountable government and as such should have a voice and be heard.

Information: Paul Vachon, Mayor of Kinnear's Mills and Prefect of the MRC des Appalaches, (418) 332-2757

Marc-Alexandre Brousseau, Mayor of Thetford and President of the Société de développement économique
de la région de Thetford (SDE). (418) 335-2981

Source: Martin Fecteau, Communication and marketing Advisor
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