In February 2023, the Corporation de développement Rivière-au-Renard (CDRR) held its strategic retreat. In January 2023, Pierre-Paul Bourdages of BGH Avocats was commissioned to assist CDRR in a strategic reflection and planning exercise, with a target completion date of October 31, 2023.
Initial funding in the order of
Essentially, this project aims to formalize Rivière-au-Renard's status as Quebec's maritime fishing capital, and to develop a tourist site focused on the interpretation of Quebec's fishing industry. This project is known as the "Quebec Maritime Fisheries Capital".
This particularly ambitious goal, initiated by a group of committed volunteers, was quickly taken on by the city, for obvious reasons of credibility with stakeholders and leadership in its development.
However, the Town is counting on the active and dynamic collaboration (since 2004) of the Corporation de développement de Rivière-au-Renard (CDRR) for the eventual management of the infrastructures once the work is completed, since it is clearly not the mission of a municipal government to take on the actual management of a project of this nature and scale.
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However, the Corporation de développement de Rivière-au-Renard (CDRR) must clearly demonstrate to the authorities, and first and foremost to the City of Gaspé, its ability and competence to take on such a particularly demanding but exciting challenge, and its links and complementarity with Groupe Beau-Village, before and in order to achieve the final project
. With this in mind, it has already been agreed that the two organizations will merge to become one.
To bring it to a successful conclusion, this project will also need the support, commitment and action of community stakeholders. Nearly 20 public and private legal entities, as well as a number of individuals who make the Gaspé region shine, have been involved in the process since February 2023.
Since the collective planning week, a follow-up priority group (GPS) has been set up.
This group is made up of:
5 orientations planning exercise (continued...)
Work on the governance axis is underway. The Board of Directors will be enlarged, and joint AGMs (GBV and CDRR) will be held in spring 2024. It has already been agreed that the two organizations will merge to become one.
1.1 Determine which legal organization will be responsible for managing the operation of the infrastructures created under the initial tripartite agreement;
1.2 Provide the corporation with sound strategic governance by fall 2023 at the latest (establishment of the GPS, composition of the new Board of Directors (spring 2024), vision, mission and values);
1.3 Clarify and reach agreement with the City of Gaspé on the management and operation of infrastructures related to the "Quebec Marine Fisheries Capital" project.
Work on the permanent axis is being carried out with the support of the City of Gaspé. The Chambre de commerce de La Côte-de-Gaspé has obtained a one-time mandate to support organizations, and the City will take over (for start-up in 2024)
2.1 Fund the services of an external resource (or mandate) to carry out GPS mandates in the short term - a short-term mandate has been given to the permanent staff of the Chambre de commerce de La Côte-de-Gaspé to support the two groups until the AGMs in spring 2024;
2.2 Gradually create a permanent staff to be fully operational for the implementation of the "Capitale québécoise des pêches maritimes"
Ongoing. In the absence of a website or other media for the CDRR organization, the Côte-de-Gaspé Chamber of Commerce temporarily hosts communications content and ensures the quality of internal communications.
Further meetings are underway on the progress of work on the former Robin building on rue du Banc (to be acquired by the Town in 2022), with the aim of turning it into a multi-purpose tourist building. In this building, the multimedia production "
" will showcase contemporary fisheries, and the project will be in operation in 2024.
The Corporation de développement de Rivière-au-Renard and Groupe Beau village would like to thank the following partners for their strategic planning support: Emploi-Québec, SADC de Gaspé, Ville de Gaspé, Microbrassrie Au Frontibus Les pêcheries gaspésiennes, Association des pêcheurs de crevettes du Québec, Stéphane Sainte-Croix Député de Gaspé.
Sincere greetings and thanks also to Gilles Tapp, who passed away on September 13, 2023. Gilles was a member of the Corporation de développement de Rivière-au-Renard since its founding in 2004.
Dear Gilles, we're going to miss you and, as you liked to remind us, we'd like to return the favor: "I'm obliged to tell you that you have a beautiful smile".
