News Releases

Montreal, September 9, 2009 – L. Jacques Ménard, President of BMO Financial Group, Quebec, and Chair of the Action Group on Student Retention and Success in Quebec, supports the Voies de réussites (paths to success) announced today by Quebec's Minister of Education, Sports and Recreation.

“The departmental document incorporates the main thrusts of the action plan contained in the Knowledge Is Power report that our Action Group published in March,” Mr. Ménard said. The chair of the Action Group and author of the book Beyond the Numbers, a Matter of the Heart reiterated his commitment, shared by the members of his Action Group, to closely monitor the implementation of the 13 success paths, including the allocation of the budgets necessary to transform the intentions announced today into meaningful action.

The departmental document recognizes the enormous challenge posed by the dropout problem in Quebec as well as the urgent need for structured, comprehensive and adequately funded action. “The road to success begins with acknowledging that a problem exists and putting in place a realistic strategy for dealing with it. This has now been done,” said Mr. Ménard, who congratulated the minister on her tenacity and vision.

The action plan calls on all of Quebec society, including the department of education, school boards and schools as well as social agencies, community organizations and the business sector. “Getting young people to stay in school is the responsibility of all society,” added Mr. Ménard. “This has to be made absolutely clear.”

Mr. Ménard stressed that the minister's action plan calls for stakeholders to be involved in children's lives from birth through graduation. “The factors that lead to dropping out sometimes come into play as soon as children are born or during their earliest years, even before they enter school. The announced actions targeting this stage in children's lives are crucial and should be given all the attention they deserve,” he explained.

Mr. Ménard also mentioned that messages recorded by well-known Quebec personalities and stars from various media began being aired yesterday to remind adults and young people of the importance of student retention and success. The messages are being carried by stations affiliated with the Corus network. “I want to thank Corus and the Cossette Communication Group for volunteering their support for this fantastic citizen initiative, which aims to make the public aware of the dropout problem and the need to assist our young people,” said the President of BMO Financial Group, Quebec.

“The minister's announcement today marks an important step in the major effort that Quebec has decided to make to help our young people stay in school,” added Mr. Ménard.

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