Economic Program Will Benefit 500 Communities
Times and Transcript, October 18, 2000

Writer and essayist John Ralston Saul, husband of Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, was back in Moncton yesterday to discuss democracy.

Following his official visit to New Brunswick last week, Saul was the keynote speaker that the conclusion of the Community Economic Development Technical Assistance (CEDTAP) annual forum at the Delta Beauséjour hotel.

Saul’s hour and five minute speech, in front of about 50 university and community leaders from across the country, highlighted the importance of citizens taking control of and reforming their institutions.

Instead of advocating lobbying efforts by non-governmental organizations from the outside, Saul said reformers have to integrate with governments to make changes.

“Belief in a social standard is a key thing in the development of public policy,” he said.

CEDTAP is Canada’s single largest private effort in community economic development. CEDTAP co-ordinator Jacques Carriere said his program – managed through Ottawa’s Carleton University – helps communities develop job-creation ideas tailored to their needs, using the expertise of CEDTAP’s consultants.

“In a way, we’re an aid to local businesses becoming more competitive in a global economy,” said Carriere.

“We’re saying, let’s try to deal with creativity by building the economy from the inside, instead of the outside.”

Mount Allison University’s Rural and Small Town Program is among the projects 30 consultants.

Over the last three years, the $10 million CEDTAP pilot projet assisted almost 100 communities, rural and urban, across the country, devoting 21 per cent of its funding to 19 projects in the Atlantic provinces.

In New Brunswick, two Human Development Councils established to look at poverty-reducing entrepreneurial strategies were developed in Saint John with the help of CEDTAP.

With the launch of CEDTAP II yesterday, the program plans to spend $5 million – matched by expected donations from corporate sponsors – to help over 500 rural and urban communities in the next five years.