SPEC Headlines, June 15, 2003

Positive work comes out of visioning event in Gaspe
Charlene Eden 

            The community visioning conference that occurred on March 22nd in Gaspe has led to some important work being done for the benefit of the area’s English population.  While the organization’s working committee is still in place, many other people in the community have joined the organization since the visioning day. As a result, priorities have been set for the organization, committees have been formed and plans are being put together for numerous projects in the English community            Since the visioning event, the working group has been actively formulating a constitution to allow the group to become a non-profit charitable organization.  They have also determined that the name of the organization will be Vision 2003.  To officially launch Vision 2003, a community breakfast is planned for July 1st at Fort Haldimand.  A report on the visioning day is also in the works and will be available to the general public once it is completed. 

            Three committees surrounding structure, empowerment and community were also created after the visioning event.  Some of the projects that are being examined by the committees, the project’s coordinator and the working group are the implementation of a community centre, the potential need for seniors’ housing, leadership training, and French training for youth.  The committees are currently laying the groundwork for such projects, but they will only start working on implementing them in September, after the Corporation is officially created and the Board of Directors has been chosen.

Wind Energy Technocentre tours North America
Charlene Eden

Representatives of the Wind Energy Technocentre in Gaspe recently returned from a three-week North American tour, during which they visited numerous wind industry related sites, businesses and specialists.  The goal of the trip was to obtain knowledge of the industry that would enable the creation and implementation of a technical program for windmill maintenance at the Gaspé Cegep.  But the trip proved to be more than educational for the Technocentre. 

            Although the Cegep already has a number of programs involving equipment maintenance, the new technical program will be geared specifically towards the maintenance of windmills.  “It’s an upgrade of their know-how, because when students leave here, they know how to do electronics, they know how to do maintenance, but specific to windmills, that’s a different game. The parts are really big, so you have to be able to manipulate big equipment. Plus the electronics are very sophisticated. Now they have power electronics beyond our current program, so we have to upgrade that,” said Elizabeth Menard, the Technocentre’s Director General.

            While the North American tour gave the Technocentre and the Cegep de la Gaspésie et des Iles the necessary information to design a quality technical program, another outcome of the trip may be a clientele from outside the region as well as guaranteed jobs for graduates.

Regional Strategic Initiative  to pump $15.5 million in the area
Charlene Eden 

            Last week in Gaspe, Claude Drouin, Secretary of State responsible for Canada Economic Development, announced that the federal government’s Regional Strategic Initiative (RSI) program will be implemented in the Gaspésie and Magdalen Islands. The region is the last in Quebec to benefit from the program, which targets specific sectors and activities that will generate diversified economic growth over the long term. The Gaspésie and Magdalen Islands RSI has been accorded a total of $15.5 million.

            According to Mr. Drouin, one goal of the initiative is to strengthen the region’s development capacity, particularly by halting the region’s current youth exodus.  A three-part project will therefore be undertaken in collaboration with the Foundation communautaire de la Gaspesie et des Iles-de-la-Madeleine to connect the region to the university network, and to identify as well as analyze incentives and on-the-job internships that could draw young degree holders back to the region.  The Foundation will also coordinate a budget designed to set up pilot projects in non-traditional fields of activity. A total of $1.6 million has been allotted for the projects.