Transcontinental - Inauguration Of Transcontinental Metropolitan

Honoured partners, Distinguished guests, Dear colleagues, Dear friends, It is with great pride and emotion that I say: "Welcome to Transcontinental Metropolitan." For Transcontinental as a whole and for our partners at La Presse , today is a great day. What you see around you and what you will soon have a chance to tour is the most modern newspaper printing plant in North America for overall quality, printing speed, use of colour and flexibility. And this jewel of technology is in Montreal, which strengthens our city's reputation in the international communications industry. Suffice it to say that Transcontinental Metropolitan is the first printing plant in North America to use Heidelberg's new Mainstream 80 technology, made in United States. First of all, I'd like you to know that this achievement is the result of a unique partnership between La Presse and Transcontinental. This partnership is based on our shared conviction that from now on, newspaper publishers will focus on what they do best, which is to produce top-quality content, and will outsource the printing of their papers to companies whose primary expertise is printing, and who are therefore equipped with state-of-the art technology. I'd like to publicly pay tribute to Guy Crevier, president and publisher of La Presse , who was central to this achievement. Guy, thank you for your trust and determination. You were a visionary throughout the process. It is now our responsibility to meet the expectations of your team, your readers and your advertisers. We will spare no effort to make sure that every day you are as proud of the print quality of your newspaper as you are already proud of its content. To Guy and his team, as well as the great family of Gesca and Power Corporation, I wish a very special welcome to Transcontinental Metropolitan. Under this roof, seven days a week, and almost 365 days a year, Transcontinental and La Presse will form a single unit, with the same desire to offer your readers and advertisers an outstanding product. For both our companies, this is the continuation of a wonderful adventure, as we have been printing three other Gesca dailies, Le Droit, Le Soleil and Le Nouvelliste , since last year. If you will allow me a slightly more personal touch, printing La Presse is an old dream of mine. That the dream has come true makes today one of the greatest moments in my life as an entrepreneur. Thank you, once again, to the team at La Presse for allowing me to see this dream come true.
My second comment relates to the spirit of our submission. We will be taking a clear position on the subjects your committee is interested in. But we will do so in a general way, stating principles and guidelines, with the aim of preparing and facilitating further discussion with Committee members.

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Dear friends, if you had been here in June 2002, you would have seen a huge empty lot. In less than 18 months we have built this plant, installed the equipment, trained our plant associates to use the most advanced newspaper-printing technology in the world, done test production runs and, starting next week, will produce the first official issue of La Presse .

This small miracle is due to the efforts of many local and international partners. I would like to mention our architect, Claude Bisson, as well as the numerous local firms who supplied the many construction components. Then there were our international equipment suppliers: Heidelberg, for the presses; HK Systems, for the paper receiving system; AGFA, for the computer-to-plate technology, and lastly, GMA, for the assembly and insertion equipment.

I would also like to thank various levels of government: the government of Quebec, for its financial participation through Investissement Québec, and the City of Montreal, for its availability and promptness in dealing with a multitude of administrative details.

I would like to make special mention of the presence today of Mr. Cosmo Maciocia, member of the executive committee of the City of Montreal and President of the borough, and Madame Nicole Léger, Deputy of the Point-aux-Trembles riding at the National Assembly of Quebec. The Mayor, Mr. Gérald Tremblay, will join us a little later. I would also like to welcome Mr. Denis Paradis, Secretary of State in the House of Commons.

I must also mention the hard work by the La Presse production crew and our plant workers who, for months, working in the background, won a race against the clock to make it possible for this event to happen today.

Finally, I'd like to particularly mention the contribution by François Olivier, our senior vice president in the Transcontinental Printing Newspaper Group. François, you have once again demonstrated that you are a great leader and an effective organizer. You brought this project to a successful conclusion by inspiring everyone around you with your energy and your desire to succeed. I'd like to also mention the important contributions of four key contacts. Firstly, Pierre Manseau, who, with his 30 years experience, helped us realize this project. Also, Monique Fry and Karine Beauchamp, who oversaw the hiring and training of the plant’s associates. And finally, Sylvain Guilbert, who was a precious addition in starting our presses.

Thank you to all our associates for your exceptional efforts of the past few months.

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In closing, I'd like to point out that this agreement between La Presse and Transcontinental is much more than a simple business decision. It is above all the coming together of two teams who share the same values, the same desire to work hard and succeed, and the same passion for doing the job right. To carry out this project, we pooled our knowledge and spirit of innovation to give the readers and advertisers of La Presse the finest possible product.

Thank you for your attention. I'd now like to invite Guy Crevier to say a few words.