The Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy sounds the death knell for the InnoVitam zone project in Quebec. Two years after work began to designate Quebec City as an innovation zone, Pierre Fitzgibbon believes “nothing has come of it.”
This statement from the minister confirms what several sources had confided to Radio-Canada in recent days. The project to develop a sustainable health innovation zone in Quebec on former industrial land in the Maizerets sector will not see the light of day.
The contract of the project’s general director ended in September. It just wasn’t renewed. Pierre Fitzgibbon believes that such a development would not happen relevant
currently in Quebec.
InnoVitam as such the contract has expired, we will continue to monitor [ce qu’on] what can be done for Quebec City.
He calls on the city to continue working on innovative projects, but does not believe a designation is necessary. A zone of innovation perhaps not, because nothing has been created for several years
he concludes.
The InnoVitam project was expected to create 15,000 jobs and generate investments of more than a billion dollars in this sector with an industrial history.
The city carried out the decontamination of 15 sites with the aim of revitalizing the sector and transforming it into an innovation zone.
The example to follow
Pierre Fitzgibbon recalls that the Quebec region is not ignored and that several other projects are underway. He cites the Rabaska lands on the other side of the St. Lawrence River as an example.
Maybe we’ll buy the land
argues the minister, whose intention was made public last month.
Will we be able to give him a vocation in the Navy, for example?
he asks, referring to the nearby Davie Shipyard. The Quebec government announced in April a $519 million investment to modernize the shipyard, which is now part of Canada’s shipbuilding strategy.
Minister Fitzgibbon also points out that Lévis does not need an award for innovative projects. I think that the Davie shipyard can develop into an innovation zone in its own right.
He also mentions the possibility of using Rabaska land to allow the Bécancour battery sector to expand outside Mauricie.
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