ACCORD Touring Project Resources: Letter explaining MRCs and CLDs

8/2/2019 ACCORD Touring Project Resources: Letter explaining MRCs and CLDs

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A letter from Edward Humphrey (Cultural development advisor, CLD

Brome-Missisquoi) exp laining MRCs and CLDs in the Eastern Townships:

In Quebec , the reg iona l gove rnme nt run b y the C onseil des Ma ires

rec eives a p ortion of munic ipa l tax mone y, and tha t is handed out to the86 administra tive d ivisions c alled MRCs, (Munic ipa lits rgiona les dec om t). The M RCs dea l with the b ig budge t items for the reg ion, and arein c ha rge o f item s like land use for exam ple.

Municipalits rgionales de c omt (MRC)

An MRC is a supramunicipal institution whose main mission is to providethe framework for regional development. It also has a role in supportingc oop era tion a nd reg iona l planning. Its ma in manda tes are p lanning andimp lementing a Reg iona l Developm ent Plan (Sc hma d 'amnag ement

et d e dve lop pement), a Fire Safety Co ver Plan, imp lementing a ResidualMa terial Mana ge ment Plan, c alculating a nd keep ing up to da te propertyeva lua tions, working with the Sret du Qubec to p lan and organizeadequate public security services and to support socioeconomicdevelopm ent throug h the Centre loca l de dvelopp eme nt (CLD).

The CLD are genera lly financ ed by the MRC a nd a re o ften in the samebuilding as well.In the case of Brome-Missisquoi, the two organisations share the samebuild ing a nd w ork tog ether on many projec ts.

Centre loca l de dve loppement (CLD)The CLD of Brome-Misssiquoi for example, is a grassroots no t-for-p rofitorganization whose mandate is to stimulate local economic growth, toimplement development and entrepreneurship strategies, and to bringtogether important players from the fields of rural development, culture,tourism, and ind ustry.

At the servic e of e ntrepreneurs, the CLD team c an help find the resourcesneeded to sta rt or expa nd a business in the MRC s territory. Theorganization offers front-line services to companies, including

accompaniment and technical and/or financial assistance, as well asservic es to p ote ntial entreprene urs or those o perating in priority sec tors asdetermined by the Boa rd of Direc tors.

Always seeking to serve the community as a whole, the CLD also offersvarious types of projects aimed at promoting Brome-Missisquoisec onomic d eve lop me nt and the well-be ing o f its pop ulation. The CLD isa t the heart of a netw ork tha t inc ludes various go vernme nt and munic ipa l
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bodies, the business, corporate, and union communities, the socialec ono my, tourism, culture, a nd agric ulture and food ind ustries. This a llowsthe CLD to p lay a leadership role in loc a l deve lop me nt.

This lea dership is expressed in many w ays, including:

The imp lementation, in c oo peration with our pa rtners, of a nec onomic d iversific a tion p lan;

Support for la rge -sc a le c om munity p rojec ts tha t promo te the area srevitalization;

The CLDs sta tus as a respec ted presenc e a t the b arga ining tab le,alongside various government bodies, which allows it to voice thearea s c onc erns and to d efend its interests;

The CLDs position a t the nuc leus of a dynam ic network of loc a lprivate sector players, which facilitates progress on the areas

shared priorities.

CLD Brome-Missisquo i and c ulture

CLDs and MRCs often e mp loy c ultural develop me nt ag ents who wo rkwith municipalities, cultural organisations and groups, artists and artga lleries (to na me a few ). In Brom e-Missisquoi, the c ultura l agent wo rksthrough at the CLD. It is important to note tha t while the MRC and CLDwork on a reg iona l leve l and dea l with munic ipalities on a da ily basis,severa l tow ns in Brome-Missisquoi also have the ir ow n c ultura ldeve lopment a gents (Cow ansville, Sutton, Lac -Brom e, Brom ont)

Objectives: Develop artistic and heritag e p rog rams and p rojec ts in the reg ion; Identify and provide ac c ess to p rovincial and fed eral funding

opportunities for c ultura l initia tives; Crea te a nd nurture c ollaborative p rojec ts tha t reflec t the c ultural

portrait of Brome-Missisquoi; Prom ote the a rea as a c ultura l destination for visitors; Crea te an a tmosphere that fac ilitates netw orking a nd

c ollaboration b etw ee n the c ultura l orga nisa tions, a rtists, and

entrep reneurs of the reg ion.

Cultura l polic iesFor quite som e time now , many MRCs and CLDs have d evelop ed c ulturalpolic ies for their a rea s whic h c learly artic ulate their short and long termc ultura l p riorities and ob jec tives. Ge nerally spea king , these p olic ies


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provide d irec tion for cultural d evelopm ent a nd provide ac c ess to loc al,p rovincial and fed eral fund ing.

Brom e-Missisquo i is p resently in the proc ess of up da ting it s c ultura l po lic ywhich wa s c rea ted in 2001. Onc e the p olic y and ac tion p lan a re

c om pleted , the MRC will be eligible to neg otiate a new 3 yea r c ulturaldevelop me nt plan w ith the MCCF (Ministre de la culture e t de sc om munica tions et la c ond ition fm inine) which could rep resentsignific ant financ ia l support to the c ultura l initia tives of the reg ion.

Munic ipalities c an a lso w rite their ow n individua l po lic ies. Of 22 towns inthe MRC of Brome-Missisquoi, Sutto n, Bromont, Cowansville and Lac -Brome ha ve d eveloped their ow n p olic ies, and it has ma de a huged ifferenc e in terms of the ir grow th.

FundingBased on the ob jec tives and orien ta tions of the ir c ultura l po lic ies, seve ra lMRCs and municipa lities have deve lop ed c ultural funds that a red istributed on an a nnua l ba sis to d eserving projec ts in the ir respec tivearea s. While the c ha rac teristic s and size o f funds c an vary from one c ityor one MRC to the next, the m a in goa l rem ains the same supportingartistic and heritage initia tives.

Cultura l fund s (cont)

Here are a few exam ples:(for more informa tion, conta c t the va rious MRCs or visit their web sites)

MRC of Brome-Missisquoi: $25,000$ per yea r for artistic and heritage projec ts 10 to 12 projec ts funded ea c h year The MRC is beg inning a c amp aign to a t lea st do ub le the am ount in

the c om ing yea rs.

MRC of Memp hrma go g $20,000 pe r year for cultura l projec ts $6250 spec ific a lly for heritage projec ts

City of Lac-Brome $20,000 pe r year for cultura l projec ts

Ville de Sutto n

Indexed from one year to the next


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In 2011, a round $60,000 for cultura l p rograms and initia tivesOther funding

Pac te Rura l

Non-profit orga niza tions, municipa lities, educ ation a nd healthnetw orks c an ap p ly to this soc ia l ec onomic fund ing p rog ram.

In 2012, the MRC w ill injec t more tha n $464 420 into thsi prog ram The fund ing c an b e c ultura l or ind ustria l. Example: In its 1st year, WordFest (Knowlton) rec eived $6000 from

this program

This fund is ma de possible throug h a n a greem ent b etw een theprovinc ia l government and rura l MRCs; it is the m ain elem ent of thePolitique Nat ionale de la rura lit .

Conseil rgional des lus (CR) Composed of representa tives from MRCs who sit in a grea ter reg ion,

i.e. 4 or 5 MRCs.

Ce ntres jeunesse Ca n som etimes g ive fee s for events involving youth. Sunshine ha s

also rec eived help from the Tow nshipp ers Resea rc h and Cultura lFoundation.

Documents

ACCORD Touring Project Resources: Letter explaining MRCs and CLDs