On Wednesday, October 23, the Ghislain Dufour Business Forum welcomed Benjamin Bélair, Quebec's delegate in Washington, and John Parisella, Special Advisor at NATIONAL, for a special panel discussion on the American elections on November 5. The discussion was moderated by Julie-Anne Vien, Managing Partner of NATIONAL's Quebec City office.
Presented by Gabrielle Landry, Senior Consultant at NATIONAL, our panellists captivated the Forum's many members and guests with the relevance of their observations and their in-depth understanding of the issues at stake in this election for the United States, Canada, and Quebec.
Unsurprisingly, our guests were careful not to make any predictions about the outcome of the election. In fact, all the polls show figures within the margin of error appropriate to such an exercise. Moreover, the many twists and turns that have marked the presidential campaign to date call for the utmost circumspection as to the outcome of the ballot, which is being conducted by virtue of a highly complex mechanism. One thing is certain: Quebec and Canada will continue to work tirelessly to promote our interests with our American friends, regardless of the results that will be known on November 6.
Mr Parisella underlined the importance of the work done by Quebec's diplomatic representations in the United States in the context of the American election. Quebec delegations are present in Washington, New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Houston, all economic centres with which Quebec has significant trade links.
Delegate Benjamin Bélair reported that all Quebec representations in the United States have stepped up meetings with key political players in the run-up to the elections, while the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF) has boosted resources within the network of representations already established in the United States by transforming two offices into delegations. One thing is certain: the delegations are ready!
Our guests emphasised that the choice of the next President of the United States will not be the only factor influencing future relations with external trading partners. The distribution of representation in the House and Senate will also have to be monitored to determine what will be possible in terms of diplomatic and trade relations through the negotiation of compromises.
Very generous with their time, Mr. Bélair and Mr. Parisella took part in a question and answer session, after which Mirabel Paquette, Partner and Senior Vice-President in NATIONAL's Montreal office, thanked them. The Forum then moved on to a cocktail hour, during which Mr. Bélair explained to the participants the main points of the event. Bélair explained to the participants the nature of his duties as Quebec's delegate in Washington.
In this capacity, Mr. Bélair is responsible for Quebec's bilateral relations with the U.S. federal government (administration and agencies, as well as Congress) and the greater Washington, D.C. area. His mandate is to monitor the legislative activity, programs and positions of the U.S. federal government in order to make its American partners aware of the interests shared by Quebec and the United States, and this has been the case since 1978.
For delegate Bélair, the US election period is an ideal opportunity to continue developing networks with US elected officials and their staff in order to gain a better understanding of the policies that could be implemented by a Harris or Trump administration, and to get a better idea of the risks and opportunities for Quebec.
From left to right: Gabrielle Landry, Senior Consultant at NATIONAL, Benjamin Bélair, Quebec Delegate in Washington, John Parisella, Special Advisor at NATIONAL, Martin Daraiche, President and Managing Partner of NATIONAL, Julie-Anne Vien, Managing Partner of NATIONAL's Quebec City office, and Mirabel Paquette, Partner and Senior Vice-President, Corporate Communications at NATIONAL and Coordinator of the Ghislain Dufour Business Forum.
About Forum Ghislain Dufour du monde des affairesR
The Ghislain Dufour Business Forum allows business people to meet and engage in dialogue with Quebec and Canadian political and business figures, political advisors or high-level public administrators on an apolitical and non-partisan basis. For more information, visit the event page.
