LA MALBAIE, Que. — It started with a “crazy idea” to make cheese and grew into an economic success story for the rural Charlevoix region of eastern Quebec.
Dominic Tremblay, a volunteer and chair with the Charlevoix SADC (Societe d’aide au developpement de la collectivite), said the region attracts tourists from well beyond its borders for its innovations in agrifood, local “terroir” and high-end cuisine.
“When people arrive, they ask where is the best restaurant, the best cheese,” he said during interviews at the Community Futures Network of Canada national conference in La Malbaie, Que., in June.
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La Laiterie Charlevoix at Baie-Saint-Paul is using the Canadienne cow bred in North America in its cheese. The breed, which was reintroduced in Charlevoix in 2007, numbered 500,000 head in 1900, but less than 500 remain today.
Tremblay said simple economics drove producers to try to add value to what was produced on the farm, noting how the downturn in hog prices resulted in niche markets for organic pork.
“(The farmer) saw what the customer wanted in the future,” Tremblay said.
Other economic development projects supported by his group include Les Viandes Biologiques de Charlevoix at Saint-Urbain, created by Damien Girard and Natasha McNicoll. The largest organic meat producer in Quebec today employs more than 40.
Vertigo Gourmet at Saint-Tite-des-Caps, owned by Cynthia Laflamme, supplies specialty markets with mini vegetables, edible flowers and microgreens from a modern facility.
“These are things we can do to be special,” said Tremblay.
Charlevoix is now dealing with the fallout from its own success, with others trying to use its name and demand outstripping available supply. He said SADC helps entrepreneurs locally with loans to increase their herd size or purchase new milkers.
Tremblay conceded such entrepreneurship is both risky and rewarding.
“We work in vision,” he said. “We’re not just a bank, we need to never forget that. We are there to take some risks where the banks do not want to go.”
“It’s not always a question of money, but a question of belief,” Tremblay said.
He said Charlevoix saw opportunities to differentiate itself from other travel destinations by promoting these specialties as part of its tourism pitch for the region’s natural attributes along the St. Lawrence amidst rolling hillsides and forested tracts of land.
“It’s always a work in progress,” said Tremblay.
Lori Ries, who was re-elected president of the Community Futures Network of Canada for a second two-year term, said other regions could launch similar initiatives.
“We can learn from each other and share best practices,” said Ries, who is also chair of Community Futures Saskatchewan.
A conference highlight was enjoying a meal featuring the food of the Charlevoix.
“I’m sure if we brought people (to Saskatchewan) from other parts of the country, we could do the same,” she said.
She praised the work of the WaterWolf project around Outlook as an example of what a region can do to generate development for a region through enhancing recreational activities, irrigation expansion and related infrastructure.
“We often don’t realize what we have out our own back door.”
Ries hopes a slimmer national CF board, down to nine members from the previous 24, will help the group better achieve its goals to collect data on community economic endeavours, service delivery and loan performance.
“When 24 are around the table, it’s harder to work toward smaller goals,” said Res.
She said Canada’s CF network recently earned high praise from a Paris based think-tank called the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development at its conference in Memphis, Tenn.
“It’s a unique setup, it’s a volunteer driven program from local grassroots level. Not many places would let volunteers deliver government money,” said Ries.
CF has delivered $4.2 billion into Canada’s rural economy and leveraged another $8 billion in investments since its inception 30 years ago, she said.
The 260 individual incorporated non-profit corporations lend money to small and medium-sized businesses and assist with community economic development and strategic planning.
