Montreal, October 14, 2020 – At its Annual General Meeting, held in hybrid form on October 5 and 6, the members of the Corporation de gestion des marchés publics de Montréal elected directors to serve on the organization’s Board of Directors. The non-profit organization, which manages Quebec’s largest network of public markets, now has 10 directors, including 5 who were re-elected, to lead the relaunch of one of Montreal’s crown jewels.

With five merchants from its markets and five independent directors residing in the Urban Agglomeration of Montreal, the board members, who come from a wide variety of sectors, reflect the diversity of voices with a stake in our markets, including both merchants and Montrealers.

The returning chair, Serge Marticotte, is very proud and enthusiastic to continue his work on the relaunch. “Our markets represent the future, as destinations for buying local food and eating a healthy diet. We are facing many tough but exciting challenges, and we are all driven by a desire to build a solid network of public markets on the Island of Montreal. It’s a job we want to do with everyone’s participation.”

In addition to the chair, four other directors were re-elected: Jonathan Abecassis, Éric Barrette, Julien Baudry and Glenn Castanheira will be back, a testament to their good work over the last year. They will share their knowledge of existing issues with the new directors, and complete the implementation of the recommendations of the Ville de Montréal’s comptroller general; 65% of the recommendations have already been implemented, and the remaining 35% are in progress and should be completed early in 2021. Several other projects, chosen in collaboration with the market committees, will be implemented in the coming year in order to keep improving the public markets.

Half of the directorships will come up for election in 2022, and the other half in 2023, ensuring continuity in the coming years. Thanks to overlapping directorship terms, the Board has an institutional memory of the issues and is able to integrate new directors quickly. As a result, the Board remains proactive at all times.

The newly elected directors are Simon Castonguay, Jean-Claude Dicka, Frédérique Roy-Trempe, Fernand Théorêt and Magali Thibault-Gobeil. They each bring unique expertise to the table, thanks to their passion for Quebec’s agri-food sector and buying from local producers. Ms. Roy Trempe and Ms. Thibault-Gobeil are two young women who are taking over their family businesses; they will bring new energy and fresh perspectives to the management of our markets.

The Board of Directors thanks the outgoing members, who did excellent work and contributed to the collective effort required to operate a public market during a pandemic.

Following is a full list of directors and their roles on the Board:

• Serge Marticotte (chair), of the Le Jardin des filles à Paul stand at Jean-Talon Market, elected producer representative until 2022
• Jonathan Abecassis (vice-chair), Senior Manager – Media Relations, CN, independent director residing in the Urban Agglomeration of Montreal elected until 2022
• Frédérique Roy Trempe (secretary), of the En tout K stand at Jean-Talon Market, non-producer member elected until 2023
• Simon Castonguay (director), Client Relationship Director, Willis Towers Watson, independent director residing in the Urban Agglomeration of Montreal elected until 2022
• Éric Barrette (director), of the Chez Louisette Fleuriste stand at Atwater Market, non-producer member until 2023
• Julien Baudry (director), Director, Public Affairs, Montreal Port Authority, independent director residing in the Urban Agglomeration of Montreal elected until 2023
• Glenn Castanheira (director), Director, Ryan Affaires publiques, director part of an association represented in the markets residing in the Urban Agglomeration of Montreal elected until 2023
• Jean-Claude Dicka (director), Management consultant independent director residing in the Urban Agglomeration of Montreal elected until 2023
• Fernand Théorêt (director), of the Ferme Fernand Théorêt stand at Atwater Market, elected producer representative until 2022
• Magali Thibault-Gobeil (director), of the Place Jacques-Cartier neighbourhood market, member of the Maisonneuve, Neighbourhood and Solidarity Markets elected until 2022.

Each Board of Directors meeting is also attended by two observer members: a representative of the Ville de Montréal and the executive director of the Corporation de gestion des marchés publics de Montréal.

About Montreal’s Public Markets

Founded in 1993, the Corporation for the Management of Montréal’s Public Markets is a non-profit organization that manages and develops the major public markets in the Montreal area – Jean-Talon, Atwater and Maisonneuve Markets – and some ten Neighborhood and Solidarity markets. Its objective is to ensure that Montrealers have access to local products as diverse as they are in markets that are at the heart of their community.

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Diane Leblanc,
Director, Marketing & Communications
dleblanc@marchespublics-mtl.com
514 816-3107