The James Bay Regional Administration (JBRA) delegation was busy on June 4 and 5. A tightly-packed schedule allowed for meetings with a dozen ministerial offices and ministers over the two days.
The delegation included members of the board of directors of the Baie-James Regional Administration, namely René Dubé, Manon Cyr, Guy Lafrenière and Jacques Fortin. Also present were Denis Lamothe, MNA for Ungava, and Philippe Boivin, regional director of the MAMH, Marie-Claude Brousseau, general director of the ARBJ, Natalia Acuna, political advisor to the minister responsible for the Nord-du-Québec region and Miriam Audrey Lessard Légaré, political advisor in Denis Lamothe’s office.
“The ARBJ had been working on this file for a year. Before the last provincial election, elected officials had sent a request to Premier Legault to appoint a strong minister responsible for the region to support us in our issues, particularly that of vitality. During visits to our region, he had mentioned to elected officials that he would help them populate the North. It is in this context that Jean Boulet was appointed minister responsible for our region,” explains Marie-Claude Brousseau, Executive Director of the ARBJ.
An appointment that bore fruit, because it was he who invited the delegation to go to Quebec City in early June to present the book of proposals to his fellow ministers of the National Assembly. “During our meetings in Quebec City, we presented a series of economic and social issues specific to James Bay. We also took the opportunity to submit to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing a book of proposals to support the demographic vitality of the Jamesian community.”
Meetings which made it possible to position the priorities identified in the notebook and to address other issues to each of the ministries.
List of meetings in Quebec
It should be noted that the meetings were held in turn. “It had never been seen before to see so many cabinets and ministers to discuss the issues of our region. Northern Quebec is a vast territory surrounded by raw materials and it is important that we continue to work together for its economic development,” adds René Dubé, President of the ARBJ Board of Directors. “We quickly realized, during these meetings, that there was an interest on both sides to discuss our issues. The discussions were exceptional. So we set up a worksite for the entire region,” he concludes.
