Hydro-Québec is proud to be a pillar sponsor of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. For many years, the Board of Trade has shown exemplary leadership as the voice of the Montréal business community.
The Board of Trade and its members contribute to the development of the metropolitan area of Montréal, a city close to our hearts. Thanks to the continued efforts of the entire greater metropolitan area, living and working in Montréal is a pleasure. For that to continue, we need everyone’s support. Hydro-Québec’s partnership in many of the Board of Trade’s activities demonstrates our interest in encouraging this dynamism and ensuring continued economic vitality.
Thierry Vandal, President and Chief Executive Officer
Rio Tinto Alcan is proud to be associated with the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal as a pillar sponsor.
Our commitment to Montréal and its population is deeply rooted in the city’s history. For almost a hundred years, Montréal has played an important role in the history and growth of what is now Rio Tinto Alcan, the global leader in the aluminium industry, and our world headquarters are located in the city.
Like the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, which plays an irreplaceable role in bringing together and stimulating the driving forces of the city’s economy, Rio Tinto Alcan has launched an array of initiatives to help create favourable conditions for the growth of Greater Montréal and the well-being of its population.
Rio Tinto Alcan’s contribution to the development of Montréal takes various shapes, ranging from our role as a major employer of highly qualified professionals to our support for cultural and social initiatives such as the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Centraide and the McCord Museum, to name only the best known. We are also an important, active participant in the BIXI public bike system, we have made a substantial financial commitment toward the construction of the future Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan and we have recently launched the Keeping youth in school together program.
In all of our host communities, our passion for excellence is our key to success. Joining forces with the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, which shares this philosophy, was hence a natural choice. Together and with the collaboration of the Board of Trade’s other pillar sponsors, we intend to make a real difference and contribute to the prosperity of Montréal, a city about which we are proud and enthusiastic, with a bright future ahead of it.
Érik Ryan, Senior Vice-President, Communications and External Relations
Astral takes great pride in its deep Montréal roots and its sustained contribution to the energy and prosperity of our city for 50 years now. Each day, new chapters are added to this love affair through the participation and commitment of our 1,500 employees who work and live with their families in the Montréal region.
Beyond a participation in Montréal’s economic activities, Astral also plays an active role in financing and promoting cultural projects—in television, film, and music. Whether through our pay and specialty television channels, our radio stations, or initiatives such as the opening of L’Astral, the new concert venue at the heart of the Montréal Quartier des spectacles (performing arts district), we are proud to take part so actively in Montréal’s cultural influence.
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal plays a leading role in the vitality of our city, the drive of its business community, and the effectiveness of its economic and cultural development. The Board of Trade’s ambitious program of conferences and networking events facilitates an essential and constant dialogue between different stakeholders within our community and helps align their actions and objectives so that Montréal can continue to be a favourite place to live. We are very pleased to champion the Board of Trade’s ambitious goals for Montréal and proud to be one of its supporting members in 2009-2010.
Ian Greenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer
As a major city, Montréal plays a crucial role in the Quebec economy, and its influence is felt throughout the province. The vitality of its businesses, the creativity of the people who work for them and the energy of its socio-economic players all contribute to the development of the metropolitan area, and, in turn, all of Quebec.
This is backdrop against which the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal is a catalyst, creating opportunities to build ties among those at the forefront of the region’s economic development. How many innovative ideas, how many major projects have come out of meetings organized by the Board of Trade? No doubt, hundreds.
This is why Bell is pleased to be a pillar sponsor of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. As a responsible corporate citizen, Bell understands the importance of getting involved in the communities in which it operates and participating in their economic development. We are particularly proud to be able to make a contribution to the Board of Trade and to share our vision for the future of Montréal. Our region’s prosperity is everyone’s business, and we are pleased to work alongside other companies from the area in promoting it.
Stéphane Boisvert, President – Bell Business Markets
What Desjardins represents to the Greater Montréal area is a total of 110 caisses, 276 service centres and 10 business centres. It represents over 7,000 people at the service of close to 1,400,000 members.
If we include employees of the Fédération and subsidiaries, close to 13,000 people work for Desjardins Group in Greater Montréal.
So when the Board of Trade asked us to be a pillar sponsor and contribute to the development of metropolitan Montréal, we stood up to be counted.
Educate, initiate and cooperate
Cooperation is one of the strengths we have to bank on for the future. But this strength must work in conjunction with others. Together we have to think in terms of three verbs combined: educate, initiate and cooperate.
Educating means ensuring that young people who arrive on the job market have the skills they need to play the role expected of them and to take their rightful place; it means fuelling the engine of our future prosperity and our ability to innovate and initiate in a global, competitive world.
Initiating means continuing to develop the desire to innovate, continuing to venture and take on new projects. It means continuing to build businesses that generate tomorrow’s wealth, both human and economic.
Cooperating is above all an attitude, a propensity for dialogue and collaboration. It means growing Greater Montréal by developing the full potential of the knowledge, resources and human capital concentrated in the city. It means working together more effectively and making a harmonious voice of Greater Montréal heard, focusing on what unites us, rather than on what divides us.
This is the meaning of our commitment to the Board of Trade, its many partners and you, its members
.
Monique F. Leroux, President and Chief Executive Officer
