On Wednesday, the Quebec mayor is scheduled to travel on a mission in the Nordic countries that promises to be a “rolling fire” and departs the following month in France and Belgium.
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Bruno Marchand on Monday detailed his mission to Finland, Denmark and Sweden, in which he will take part from March 22-30. He will be accompanied by a delegation of about twenty people, including mayors from Quebec. Expenses for persons outside Quebec City are borne by their respective organizations, taking care to stress Mr. Marchand, who will be traveling in economy class.
Thus, there will be the Mayor of Laval, Stéphane Boyer, the Mayor of Granby, Julie Bourdon, the Mayor of Gaspé, also the President of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec, Daniel Cot, as well as representatives of Universitaire Laval, Capitale Mobilité, the Task Force on the Mobility of Goods and People in Quebec City, and the Council Regional Environment Capitale-Nationale, Vivre en ville, Québec International, Metropolitan Community of Quebec. They will accompany the Quebec City delegation of five.
There will be a lot of talk about mobility and sustainable development, but also about homelessness. Many meetings and visits in the program and it will be on fire. It won’t be fun. “We want him to be the most profitable every day,” Bruno Marchand advised.
The mayor justified the presence of a large delegation by the need for a “strike force”. “I wanted to surround myself with experts in their field, leaders who could share their experiences and learn from what was done better in the Nordic countries.”
Mr. Marchand also believes that “this trip, in terms of homelessness, will make the difference.” It will be inspired by Helsinki, one of the few cities in the world that has experienced a decrease in homelessness.
France and Belgium
The mayor will depart a few weeks later, this time to France and Belgium, from April 19-29, on a mission focused largely on the economy.
“We will meet local businesses and introduce the benefits of Quebec to the European community.”
He has been invited to address the Paris Chamber of Commerce, during which he will promote the Province of Quebec and its distinguished outlets, and will make use of his visit to participate in a meeting of the International Association of Francophone Mayors, of which he is Vice-President. Attracting talent, especially from francophone countries, must be a priority, according to Bruno Marchand.
The mayor will take advantage of his trip to visit the twin cities of Namur and Bordeaux, with which Quebec City has a long-standing relationship.
He will also visit Brussels, where he will discuss the topic of preserving historic areas. “They have unused spaces that they have turned into living spaces. We will definitely learn from them.”
Villeneuve skeptical
Claude Villeneuve, leader of the Official Opposition, was somewhat skeptical about the mayor’s “expensive” trip to Scandinavia. In terms of the homelessness component of the mission, Quebec’s mayor will have everything to gain by talking to community stakeholders here rather than looking for solutions abroad, he said. On the other hand, the mayor’s mission at the end of April, in France and Belgium, pleases Mr. Villeneuve very much because it will revolve around the economy, he said.
– In cooperation with Al-Tayeb Al-Mualla
