As a follow-up to our Message to members of March 20, we would like to inform you that, last week, we forwarded an initial note detailing COVID-19’s impacts on your organization to the Ministère des Transports du Québec’s Department of Maritime and Air Transport and to various federal government departments.

We would remind you that the information we gather will be used to fuel their deliberations and will allow the different levels of government to have a list of maritime projects in hand to help relaunch the Québec and Canadian economies as soon as this exceptional situation is over.

To properly compile the information submitted, we would invite you to answer the three questions asked in writing, no later than Friday, April 3, to mathieu.st-pierre@st-laurent.org.

Port transfers

The Québec government recently announced that, on March 30, 2020, it would officially become the owner of four ports (Gaspé, Gros-Cacouna, Matane and Rimouski) transferred by the Government of Canada.

You are invited to consult the Ministère des Transports du Québec website for more information on applying for berths and advance notice of arrival, declarations of arrival and departure, and any other relevant information linked to these different measures.

Beginning of the Great Lakes season

The Montréal-Lake Ontario section of the Seaway will open on April 1, 2020.

To consult official information, especially during the pandemic, please click here.

Your collective efforts we would like to highlight

 In concluding, for several weeks now, you, your teams and your loyal partners have shown resilience and dedication to ensure that the Québec and Canadian logistics chain is maintained.

On your social networks, many of you have spotlighted the efforts made by members of your organizations in this time of crisis, which affects all work teams. We take great pride in sharing them in order to highlight the exemplary work your teams do every day. Collectively, we can be proud of the work done thus far and the permanent SODES team is available at all times to support you.

For any comments, please feel free to contact us.

Mathieu St-Pierre
President-CEO
St. Lawrence Economic Development Council (SODES)

The situation we are currently experiencing raises brand-new challenges every day. Your ability to adapt, your dedication and your effectiveness make our industry stand out in these times of crisis.

As indicated in our recent communications, we are working on:

• Monitoring economic impacts;
• Maintaining constant contact with the members to adequately meet their needs and respond to their concerns during this exceptional situation;
• Identifying, and recommending to governments, financial and economic measures to support marine industry companies and employees;
• Preparing a communications and marketing actions plan in order to be ready when activities start up again so as to promote the Québec marine industry and heighten its visibility.

In this context, the Ministère des Transports du Québec’s Department of Maritime and Air Transport and the Government of Canada would like to know the concrete impacts this crisis may have on your organization’s daily operations. The information gathered will be used to fuel their deliberations and to be ready to relaunch the Québec and Canadian economies as soon as this exceptional situation is over.

Consequently, in partnership with them, we would ask you to collaborate by sharing the following information with us:

1. What impacts (economic, financial, human resources, operations) does your organization face?
2. Have you implemented exceptional measures to ensure the continuity of your operations?
3. Do you have infrastructure projects that are ready to be carried out as soon as this crisis if over or that would begin soon after if government assistance were considered?

Your contribution will enhance government deliberations and will certainly help adapt the various measures that the governments might implement to better support you in the context of this crisis and for the upcoming launching of the Québec government’s new maritime vision.

To properly compile the information submitted, we would invite you to answer the above-mentioned three questions in writing to mathieu.st-pierre@st-laurent.org.

Thank you for your valuable collaboration.

Mathieu St-Pierre
President-CEO
St. Lawrence Economic Development Council (SODES)

In recent days, we have had the opportunity to speak with many of you to communicate all of the relevant information regarding COVID-19’s impacts on the Québec marine industry.

We are aware that your priority is to maintain your activities effectively, while ensuring the safety of your employees and the local population.

We would remind you that we are involved in various teleconferences that group together government stakeholders. Should you have questions, concerns or something you do not understand about the measures issued, please feel free to contact us so that we can represent you vis-à-vis the authorities in question.

In the current situation, we have a collective duty to participate in protecting the Québec public. This special context also highlights our industry’s vital role for the economy. Consequently, it is more important than ever that we all collaborate to ensure that the essential logistics chain functions optimally.

Consequently, our team has mobilized around the following actions:

• Monitoring economic impacts;
• Ensuring constant contact with the members to adequately meet their needs and respond to their concerns during this exceptional situation;
• Identifying, and recommending to governments, financial and economic measures to support marine industry companies and employees;
• Preparing a communications and marketing actions plan in order to be ready when activities start up again so as to promote the Québec marine industry and heighten its visibility.

You should also know that, as soon as the crisis is over, targeted communications and marketing actions will be implemented to highlight the strategic role our industry played in supplying essential goods and products to Québec and all of Canada in the context of this exceptional situation.

• Finally, as of tomorrow, we will set up a detailed maritime sector media watch that you will receive every day around 7:30 a.m.

Media requests
Not surprisingly, we have been receiving a great many media requests regarding all kinds of questions. Given that there are already numerous communications involving our members and that the messages circulating have not always been completely aligned to date, SODES prefers to restrict its media input by analyzing media requests relevantly and responding only to journalists’ requests that do not threaten to fuel confusion. In this spirit, please feel free to contact us for our position or understanding of an issue, if the media get in touch with you. We would be happy to accompany you to ensure coherent messages for our industry as a whole, as far as possible.

For comments or information of any sort, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mathieu St-Pierre
President-CEO
St. Lawrence Economic Development Council (SODES)