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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - FEBRUARY / MARCH 2012
On May 18, 2011, he was
appointed Minister of State (At-
lantic Canada Opportunities
Agency) (La Francophonie). CIO
had the pleasure of speaking
with Minister Valcourt about
the Atlantic Canadian business
landscape.
CIO: What do you see on the
horizon for 2012 for Atlantic
Canada businesses?
Minister Valcourt: When we
look at 2012 a priority will be
to encourage start-ups, but we
will also look at helping small
businesses graduate and be
able to compete outside Canada.
Through recent projects such
as Lower Churchill and DSTN
Trenton, we have the opportu-
nity to offer small businesses a
part of these projects in the
supply chain.
The priority for the federal
government and ACOA is to get
those businesses to realize the
potential of opportunities. We
will disseminate the informa-
tion in Atlantic Canada and
help them, and our program-
ming is oriented around
teaching those SMEs about the
steps they need to take to get
EXCLUSIVE:
MINISTER
BERNARD
VALCOURT
- ACOA
B
ERNARD
VALCOURT
WAS
f irst elected to
the House of Commons in
1984 and re-elected in 1988.
In 1984, he was appointed
Parliamentary Secretary to
the Minister of National
Revenue and to the Minister
of State (Science and
Technology). From 1984 to
1993, Mr. Valcourt subse-
quently served as Minister
of State (Small Businesses
and Tourism), Minister of
State (Indian Affairs and
Northern
Development),
Minister of Consumer and
Corporate Affairs, Minister
of Fisheries and Oceans,
Minister of Employment and
Immigration and Minister of
Labour.
“
If we look at our traditional
industries in Atlantic Canada like
forestry and tourism, as well as
mining, we are still faced with issues
like shortages of skilled labour and
the best way we can tackle that is to
work with private and public partners
and stakeholders to provide
educational opportunities.”
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES ATLANTIC CANADA