AUGUST 2014
H
business elite canada 9
mittee member at city council
in charge of sustainable devel-
opment, environment, large
parks, and green spaces, and
mayor of the Mercier-Hochel-
aga-Maisonneuve borough of
Montreal.
Among other critical objec-
tives in the plan, is the reduc-
tion of Montreal’s greenhouse
gas emissions by 30 per cent
by 2020. So far, the City Coun-
cil has the support of more
than 200 partners including
Hydro Quebec, Ubisoft, and
Bell Canada— just to name
a few. The city is taking its
plan for a greener and con-
sequently (according to sup-
porters) more economically
viable future very seriously
over the long term. The plan
follows from Montréal’s First
Strategic Plan for Sustainable
Development, which covered
2005-2009. It was revised in
2010 upon the same five ori-
entations as the first plan:
• Improving air quality and re-
ducing greenhouse gas emis-
sions.
• Ensuring the quality of resi-
dential living environments.
• Managing resources respon-
sibly.
• Adopting good sustainable
development practices in in-
dustry, business and institu-
tions.
• Improving the protection of
biodiversity, natural environ-
ments and green spaces.
The plan takes a page di-
rectly from the Bruntland
Commission report of the
United Nation’s World Com-
mission on Environment and
Development of 1989 stating
the definition of sustainable
development, one that pre-
supposes efficient, socially
equitable and ecologically
sustainable economic devel-
opment based on a new form
of governance that encour-
ages the mobilization and par-
ticipation of all members of
society in the decision-making
process. In other words, Mon-
tréal’s plan for sustainability
is a more holistic approach to
economic development that
incorporates concern for the
environment, administrative
and civic participation.
But the city’s plan it isn’t just
all fancy talk; there are nine
concrete sustainable develop-
ment objectives built into in
the plan for each point of im-
provement to ensure results
