‘Dialogue Days’ focused on social economy’s role for Anglos in Quebec
In a bid to expand the federal government’s understanding of issues and challenges relating to the entrepreneurship and economic development of official language minority communities, officials with the government met online on Oct. 8 with the leaders of several Quebec English-language organizations with a related stake.
Dialogue Days
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) hosts bi-annual stakeholder consultations with official language minority communities (Francophones outside Quebec and Anglophones in Quebec), known as Dialogue Days.
This year, the consultation focused on social economy, the goal being to explore the Quebec economic ecosystem and complement other federal initiatives.
ID’ing the priorities
Discussion questions during the meeting dealt with identifying what are the top priority needs of the Quebec English-speaking communities that the social economy model could address, and what strategies/actions or other mechanisms could improve social and economic development change.
Other objectives included bringing together different stakeholders of the English-speaking communities of Quebec and actors of the social economy ecosystem, and deepening the government’s understanding of the social economy as a means for social and economic development for the ESCQ and exchange on the needs and priorities of the community.
Views on English-speaking Quebec
One of the community group representatives, John Buck, president and CEO of the Montreal-based Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC), said the CEDEC is now actively promoting two Quebec English-speaking community economic development objectives and four related targets for the next ten years.
He said the English-speaking community of Quebec “must increase its participation in and contribution to growing Quebec’s economy and reap the tangible economic benefits derived from this contribution.”
As well, he said Quebec’s economy should be leveraged to address the economic disparities and disadvantages the English-speaking community of Quebec is experiencing.
He said that over the next ten years, the English-speaking community of Quebec should seek to create or expand 250 businesses or social enterprises, create or fill 1,000 jobs, attract $5 million in investment, and reduce by 50 per cent the economic disparities and experiences that the English-speaking community in Quebec is subjected to.
Promoting social economy
Canada Economic Development for Quebec says it would like to pay particular attention to the role of the social economy in the long-term economic development of the regions of Quebec, in complementarity with other federal programs, and considering the Quebec ecosystem.
In that context, the ministry would like to deepen its knowledge of the sector and its players, gain a better understanding of how the social economy can contribute to regional economic development, and identify official language minority communities’ needs.
CED says it supports the economic development of official language minority communities with its regular programs and through the Economic Development Initiative (EDI) – Official languages.
Nationwide program
The nationwide initiative has been implemented since 2008 by the regional development agencies (RDAs) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED). The initiative was also renewed under the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028.
ISED coordinates the EDI at the national level for reporting, consultation, evaluation activities and conducts research and policy analysis on official language minority communities.
The research aims to expand the federal government’s understanding of the issues and challenges relating to official language minority communities’ entrepreneurship and economic development and to build capacity and partnerships in this area.
Discussing opportunities
CED says events like the Oct. 8 online meeting allow participants to discuss opportunities and challenges that impact the economic development of OLMCs and can help inform the implementation of the EDI and other federal programs.
CED says its mission is to promote the long-term economic development of the regions of Quebec by giving special attention to those where a low economic growth is prevalent or opportunities for productive employment are lacking.
