Highlight: signing of a MOU between Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) and the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO)
The inaugural EDAC Day on the Hill took place last week in Ottawa, and the event exceeded the expectations of board members and EDAC staff alike. Over the course of two days, the EDAC Board of Directors participated in almost 30 individual meetings with MPs, senior staff and partner organizations like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), Industry Canada (IC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
The event kicked off with a reception hosted by MP Rodney Weston (Saint John), providing board members with a chance to interact with MPs and Ministers in a relaxed setting before the full roster of meetings the following day. EDAC President Serge Côté spoke on behalf of the association, setting the stage for EDAC’s advocacy agenda for the Canadian economic development profession.
Board members participated in meetings in teams, all with the intent of introducing EDAC’s role as a national association with a membership that reaches from coast to coast to coast. The response to our teams was more positive than we could have hoped, with extra meetings being added on as more MPs and staffers learned about EDAC’s mandate and vision for advocacy on behalf of the profession.
A meeting with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities was one of the nearly 30 meetings attended by EDAC board members during the advocacy event.
A highlight of last week’s event was the historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between EDAC and the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) to build capacity in economic development through shared professional development and training. The interest in cooperation and partnership was encouraging, and laid a strong foundation for future advocacy initiatives.
In the coming weeks, EDAC will provide more detailed outcomes as we report back on the success of the Day on the Hill. We look forward to bringing more value to our membership with initiatives like this one, and to continuing our role as a national voice for the economic development profession in Canada.
