Willingness, readiness, confidence and togetherness were some of the takeaways from the different parties that participated in the Évolution Verte Outaouais Tour.

To further the agenda on green initiatives and move towards a more sustainable and economically sound future, MP Sophie Chatel invited several representatives of business groups, entrepreneurs and elected officials from the Pontiac MRC to participate in . . .

the roundtable to discuss the green and circular economy.

On April 29, Conseil régional de l’environnement et du développement durable de l’Outaouais (CREDDO), the SADC/CAE, Outaouais Tourism, Warden of the MRC Pontiac Jane Toller and MNA André Fortin met at Pine Lodge, in Bristol and participated in the Évolution Verte Outaouais Tour (ÉVO) and the Green Economy Round Table.

Chatel pointed out that she sensed a lot of hope and a feeling of togetherness from the attendees, and that although climate change will be challenging to combat, but together it can be done.

“What I’ve learned is that there’s little we can do on our own but it’s limitless what we can do together,” said Chatel.

Some of the themes that were discussed include sustainable tourism, digitalization, sustainable mobility, and sustainable forestry. From each of the themes discussed they plan on identifying five actionable items they can work on in the upcoming months. After consolidating the ideas they plan on putting it all in one big book they are calling The Green Book. This process will inform them where to direct their focus and what areas to concentrate on, noted Chatel.

The overarching theme of the afternoon was the idea of creating a circular economy, one in which a product’s life cycle is prolonged because it is being reused and recycled ith the goal being to implement that model here in the Pontiac.

Fortin found the sessions interesting in that they rallied all the community partners in one place.

“It was an opportunity to remind ourselves that our region was built on the quality of our trees, the quality of our land, people choose this place, because the quality of our rivers and lakes and air, and that we have very, very tangible of vested interest in protecting and maintaining our environment, but also also fostering it for economic growth,” said Fortin.

Spending the whole day at the roundtable, Toller gives credit to Chatel for organizing this event and being action-oriented. Through the event one idea in particular captured Toller’s attention, which was the creation of a nursery. This nursery is created when a region lacks trees, but cities need more trees for the increase of the canopy for shade and for health to reduce the effect of greenhouse gases.

“The Pontiac is a perfect candidate, because we have 55 different species of trees. And we know a lot about forestry. And I think trees from the Pontiac will have a certain reputation,” noted Toller.

“It was very worthwhile, very inspiring. We had a great mixture of people here,” she said. “We had, most importantly, federal, provincial, regional and municipal as well as experts in business and the environment.”

Local Partners and businesses

CREDDO started the morning off with a presentation, where they discussed climate change. Paul Turpin, Consulting Executive said this event is about taking a more proactive stance when it comes to funding for climate change efforts.

“There’s lots of hope, but more than hope, there’s a sense of urgency and a sense that we can do it. Let’s do it,” said Turpin.

The difference between the pandemic and climate change is that climate change is here forever, and it’s already impacting our lives and will do so even more, noted Turpin.

If things do not start to improve, the Pontiac is looking at experiencing a possible seven degrees in average temperature by 2041-2070. This will affect agriculture, will cause forest fires and extreme heat waves.

“Somebody has to show an example and the Pontiac can set the example for the rest of the Outaouais,” said Turpin. “I hope that the Outaouais region will speak as one voice, and I hope the region will be able to exert a strong influence on provincial, and federal governments so that we can go and get the amount of money we should get.”

Local businesses such as Coopérative Aventure Hélianthe and ecotourism benefited from being able to participate in an open discussion on issues with other businesses that were also present. “The link and the relationship between different partners,” said Louis Harvey. Being able to hear what other businesses were doing and what they think was a valuable experience for him.

Participants such as Harvey were able to participate in workshops and reflected on best practices in sustainable forestry, sustainable tourism, digitalization and tomorrow’s technologies, and mutualization and collective businesses as a driver of sustainable economic development.

“People are ready for this. And it was really motivating to see like-minded people working together,” said Geneviève Le Blanc, Conservation Director of Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Ottawa Valley Chapter.

Le Blanc highlighted that when it comes to conservation efforts it is vital that it is done locally. “We really want conservation to come from the community. The people that live here are the ones who know the land and that’s why we really want their help into shaping our protected area, and then also into managing it. And I think these meetings show us how people can work together.”

For Brittany Morin, Business Advisor, at SADC the highlight for her was not only identifying gaps or issues but to provide solutions on more collaborative efforts.

“An event where we’re able to kind of sit together and brainstorm together is useful. And it’s also energizing to keep us motivated to keep going and reach out to new ideas,” said Morin.

And as an economic development organization, one take away from the event was seeing how they can use technology to get business the information they need, without taking them away from their work.

Pontiac was the final stop in her roundtable tours; Maniwaki, Cantely and Pontiac, which was part of a series of events held For a Green and Prosperous Pontiac-Outaouais initiative aimed at addressing issues such as inclusiveness, sustainable housing, and green energy, as well as green, collective and active transportation.

“The energy is amazing, the ideas are fantastic, and the Pontiac we have innovation and if we elected officials can support those innovations I’m very hopeful for the region,” said Chatel.

To participate in the discussion virtually on the Cocoriko public consultation platform starting mid-May, at https://pontiacvertprospere.cocoriko.org/.

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