fbpx

Select your language

What a pleasure it is to write my first Logbook editorial as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal Port Authority.

In office since January 1, 2021, I’m helming the MPA through a watershed event. The entire organization is working flat out to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. After a tumultuous year, all of us are hopeful that the worst is behind us.

We are also all set to participate fully in the economic recovery and support the businesses affected by this crisis. We know how essential shipping is to the companies and services that depend on us for their supplies, to the industries that import raw materials for production, to the companies that rely on us to grow, and to consumers who count on us daily for their food, their jobs, their comfort and their free time or travel activities. As always, the Port of Montreal remains a public utility at the hub of the supply chain for Greater Montreal and Eastern Canada.

We are, of course, closely monitoring the progress of labour relations between the Maritime Employers Association and the dockworkers’ union. We’re rooting for a negotiated and lasting agreement, because any disruption, stoppage of port operations or diversion of cargo to competing ports will have direct and serious repercussions on the economy, on Canadian businesses that depend on international trade and, ultimately, on the supply of goods and products to the public. These impacts are all the more unwanted while the pandemic is not over and the economic recovery is only just beginning.

Since the pandemic has hit the most vulnerable, we have redoubled our efforts to assist organizations whose mission specifically targets poverty in the neighbourhoods near our port facilities. At the Port of Montreal’s Grand Quay, the drop-in centre we opened in collaboration with Accueil Bonneau provides a safe and heated space for about 300 homeless people a day. We have also made additional funding available to three organizations whose mission is food security, combatting poverty and exclusion in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

The spirit of innovation that powers our teams has been put to work in the fight against the pandemic with the creation of CargO2ai, a system that prioritizes and accelerates the processing of containers carrying the protective equipment and critical goods needed to beat COVID-19.

We are pursuing our development and infrastructure projects, such as our overpass project in the Viau sector and our big expansion project in Contrecoeur. We’re constant in our concern for transparency, attentiveness and harmonious cohabitation with not only our neighbours but also the biodiversity all around us. Through all of our endeavours, sustainable development and innovation are at the heart of our long-term vision.

These values have guided us for many years, and that’s not about to change!

Have a good read,

Martin Imbleau
President and Chief Executive Officer of the MPA