Press Releases
September 21st 2017
The City of Sept-Îles and its Partners Sign a Fourth Cultural Development Agreement

SEPT-ÎLES, September 21, 2017 — The City of Sept-Îles, the Government of Québec and Aluminerie Alouette announced today, during a press conference, that they sign a fourth cultural development agreement.

 

The $400,000 agreement will be valid from 2018 to 2020 and includes the following financial commitments:  $140,000 from the City of Sept-Îles, $60,000 from Aluminerie Alouette, and $200,000 from the Government of Québec, via the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec (MCCQ). An additional contribution of $30,000 will be made by the government in support of La Virée de la culture.

 

The purpose of the fourth agreement is to continue the progress made by the first three agreements. Its main goals are to promote access to arts and culture for the entire population, support innovative community initiatives, recognize and value artistic practices, bring cultures closer together, and highlight Sept-Îles’ history and heritage.

 

In thanking the Government of Québec and Aluminerie Alouette for their commitment and trust, Lorraine Dubuc-Johnson, the municipal councillor responsible for arts, culture and heritage, says “We could not be prouder of this new agreement. It strengthens a valuable partnership that has had major, wonderful benefits for our community.” She also emphasized the importance of the agreements, “which, each time, give the City the means to take cultural development to the next level by supporting initiatives that, while sometimes out of the ordinary, enhance our quality of life!”

 

“We are very proud of this fourth agreement. We believe that once again it will be a significant cultural lever, and the entire population will benefit from its impacts,” says Claude Boulanger, President and CEO of Aluminerie Alouette.

 

“Since their creation, the cultural development agreements have allowed culture to become a driver of social and economic development. They have become powerful tools for valuing and promoting the individual characteristics of each region. The announced investments will structure and multiply the exchanges between cultural organizations and municipal and regional actors,” says Luc Fortin, Minister of Culture and Communications and Minister responsible for the Protection and Promotion of the French Language.

 

Partners since…2005!

Since the first cultural development agreement was signed in Sept-Îles in 2005, $800,000 has been jointly invested in support of some one hundred projects, initiatives and cultural organizations. Cultural development agreements were implemented in 1995 by the MCCQ to offer municipalities a flexible tool adapted to their local and regional contexts and to prioritize culture as a key area of city intervention. With the participation of Aluminerie Alouette — a partner since day one — Sept-Îles has stood out for a number of years as the first and only city to take on a private partner in this kind of agreement.

About Aluminerie Alouette
Inaugurée en 1992, Aluminerie Alouette est une entreprise indépendante de production d’aluminium.
Avec près de 850 employés, elle est le plus important employeur privé de Sept-Îles.
Sa capacité de production annuelle de plus de 620 000 tonnes d’aluminium de première fusion en fait la plus importante aluminerie des Amériques.
L’usine de Sept-Îles place le développement durable au cœur de ses actions.