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We were at the beginning of March. The British Columbia Aqua Forum team was working hard to deliver the first AquaHacking semi-final in western Canada. Preparations were well underway. More than 25 teams were expected and nearly 200 people had confirmed their presence in Kelowna to attend this landmark event of the competition.

However, something of global significance was to upset the plans: the pandemic.

On March 17th, 2020, the government announced a ban on assembly. 5 days before the event, the team had to quickly make a decision for the next steps: cancel the semi-final, or try to adapt the competition virtually. It was, after all, a major step in the journey of participants who had been working on their technological solution projects for several months.

With the current COVID-19 epidemic, Aqua Forum and its partners had made sure to adapt their plan quickly. Indeed, the whole team had to be reactive to follow the directives of health officials and governments.

A Change of Course at High Speed

The Okanagan Water Board and Aqua Forum have shown exemplary technical agility in dealing with the situation by performing a 100% virtual pivot for this event. The adaptive capacity of the entire organization has been exceptional. To this end, in just five days, the organizers have accomplished the feat of adapting the event and making it a 100% virtual semi-final.

The de Gaspé Beaubien family could not be more proud of all the stakeholders as well as the different regional teams. “I couldn’t be more proud to see the adaptive capacity of the teams in such a short time. I would like to thank each of the teams and all of our partners for their colossal efforts in this time of crisis.” Said Mrs. de Gaspé Beaubien.

A 100% Virtual Semi-Final

The live broadcast on Facebook and the use of other videoconferencing technologies helped keep the original programming safe and responsible. The de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation believes that, despite the critical global situation, we must maximize the use of technologies. It is also important to continue to focus on environmental programs.

In addition, the 27 AquaHacker teams from across Canada presented their solutions to the judges via virtual rooms. There was a virtual lounge for those who were waiting their turn, including videos, quizzes and much more. The 15 judges also agreed to continue the adventure in webcasting and the invaluable sponsors that all contributed to the continuation of the plan virtually.

The de Gaspé Beaubien family would like to congratulate the OBWB team for their openness to venture into this sudden change. Through their audacity, they demonstrated the feasibility of a 100% virtual challenge and thus, saved the AquaHacking initiative and its future. Now, all that remains is to make constant improvements to the next semi-finals in Winnipeg and the Atlantic.

To ensure the streaming quality of the challenges and thereby standardize the brand image of AquaHacking, Aqua Forum has mandated the firm TKNL which will ensure the production of virtual events on a national scale. This is a collaboration that looks promising!

Technology for Everyone

While the safety of participants has been ensured by adapting the event virtually, the situation also demonstrated that, despite social distancing, it is possible to continue efforts aimed at saving the country’s fresh water. This virtual event also contributes to increasing the scope of the AquaHacking challenge worldwide. This technological innovation is an interesting format of the AquaHacking competition.

The Winning Teams of our First Virtual Semi-Final

In a virtual science fair-style event, the teams presented their solutions to the members of the jury.

The 5 finalist teams for the AquaHacking British Columbia semi-final are:

• Atlantis (Vancouver)
• Ozero (Quebec)
• Elite (Kelowna)
• Hydrodynamic Labs (Kelowna)
• Agricultural Decision Support (Victoria and Toronto)

Upcoming AquaHacking Events

The AquaHacking British Columbia Challenge is one of three programs taking place in Canada this year. The next semi-finals will take place in Winnipeg on (June 10th, 2020) and Atlantic Canada on (June 18th, 2020). In addition, the grand finale of the AquaHacking British Columbia challenge will be held on June 25th to finalize this adventure that the 5 finalists have been living for almost a year now.

While currently, no one can predict how the next few weeks will unfold, the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation has full confidence in the adaptive capacity of the Aqua Forum team and ecosystem.

To watch the 100% virtual semi-final, click here.

It’s with great pride that the de Gaspé Beaubien family foundation attended the official launch of the AquaHacking Lake Winnipeg Challenge on January 31st. Live from the DisruptED event at the RBC Convention Center, high-profile speakers had the chance to share their in-depth knowledge of innovation, creativity, artificial intelligence and the human side of technology.

It’s Time to Take Action with AquaHacking

It is clear that the state of Canada’s water is in danger. Lake Winnipeg, one of the largest freshwater rivers in the world, is no exception. Since the preservation of water quality is a priority for the de Gaspé Beaubien family, it went without saying that supporting a Challenge that would aim to preserve and improve the water of this region through sustainable actions and changes aligned well with the Foundation’s goals.

IISD, an Important Ally

This new edition of the Challenge is presented by IISD (International Institute of Sustainable Department), a local management partner based in Winnipeg for over 30 years. The primary mission of this institution, made up of researchers from around the world, is to conduct research on climate and water issues. Through research, analysis and international expertise, IISD identifies and defends sustainable solutions. By joining the AquaHacking Challenge, the organization becomes a launchpad for the development and deployment of concrete and innovative actions for freshwater issues.

AquaHacking stakeholders are very excited about this collaboration. “We are proud to be associated with this great organization, IISD, and we are very excited to energize the technology sector with new initiatives in the Manitoba region, whose technology sector is currently in full swing.” Said Dominique Monchamp, senior advisor to the de Gaspé Beaubien foundation.

An Inspiration for the Next Generation

The family was delighted to welcome a member of the AquaHacking alumni community, Dr. Robert Liang, CEO and founder of WaterPuris, as a guest of the conference and Lake Winnipeg AquaHacking Challenge Kick-Off. Dr. Liang presented his technology developed during the AquaHacking 2018 Challenge. His presence was a real inspiration for the next generation of young hackers.

The next generation is a precious source of inspiration and innovation for the de Gaspé Beaubien family. This is why AquaHacking recruits and encourages new players to think about issues related to freshwater. The Challenge teams are made up of committed and creative minds, students, water researchers, developers, designers, scientists, programmers, engineers, technology enthusiasts, and entrepreneurs. A common motivation unites these individuals with distinct areas of expertise, namely the undeniable concern for the fate of Lake Winnipeg and its ecosystem.

5 Reasons to Participate

The five water issues associated with the AquaHacking Lake Winnipeg Challenge were officially revealed to participants at the DisruptED conference. Participating hackers can access informative webinars that describe each of the issues by water experts. These videos explore the issues in detail and assist participants in their selection of the subject they will address  during the Challenge.

The 5 water issues 

During the AquaHacking Lake Winnipeg Challenge, hackers are tasked to develop exciting and innovative solutions for the following five issues:

• Water management on agricultural land: Providing agricultural producers with solutions to increase their profitability in a sustainable manner while reducing the amount of phosphorus that is found in Lake Winnipeg.
• Preserving fish health: Developing strategies to remove drug residue from wastewater before it ends up in Lake Winnipeg and methodologies to assess fish health without having to kill the fish being tested.
• Protecting ecosystems from plastic: Looking for ways to better understand how microplastics end up in Lake Winnipeg.
• Access to drinking water in Aboriginal communities: Advancing innovative and economical solutions to allow northern communities to test the quality of their drinking water supplies.
• Financing a healthy Lake Winnipeg: Developing new financial tools to help concerned citizens easily invest in the protection of Lake Winnipeg and be able to follow the impact of their investment.

 Supporting positive change

In closing, it is with this vision that the de Gaspé Beaubien family launched the AquaHacking Challenge in 2015. The fate of tomorrow’s world must be taken in hand today.  We all have a responsibility as Canadian citizens. The family believes in the innovative and inspiring talent of young Canadians and is honored to witness the growth of the 17 startups active to date since the launch of the AquaHacking Challenge 5 years ago.

Aqua Forum announced this week that the Freshwater Conservation Challenge will be held in Kelowna, British Columbia.

In collaboration with the Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) and Aqua Forum, this sixth edition of the AquaHacking Challenge represents an opportunity to share complementary expertise such as business, science, engineering and technology in order to tackle real issues and make a concrete difference.

A Succession Initiative for the Next Generation

AquaHacking was born from a challenge given to the fourth generation of descendants of the de Gaspé Beaubien family in order to perpetuate the family’s philanthropic lineage. The younger generation responded with one voice, to which eminent specialists then echoed. Everyone agrees that water conservation is a huge issue in North America.

Today, the proof is made beyond any doubt that young Quebec entrepreneurs can develop inventive and practical solutions to help preserve the immense natural wealth of freshwater in Canada.

A challenge For Complex Issues

Aqua Forum trusts the Okanagan Basin Water Board to successfully complete the AquaHacking challenge in the Okanagan Valley region of Kelowna. The issues submitted to young entrepreneurs were unveiled on October 29th, 2019 and are as follows:

1. Contaminants in Stormwater: Finding a way to improve water quality in Canadian lakes and rivers by reducing stormwater contamination.
2. Residential / Commercial Use of Outdoor Water: Addressing a solution to reduce the amount of water used outside BC homes and businesses.
3. Community Flood Damage and the Need to Communicate Flood Hazards: Considering a solution to reduce damage to homes, businesses and infrastructures while improving flood risk communication to communities.
4. Prevent and Mitigate the Effects of Invasive Zebra and Quagga Mussels: Determining a way to prevent infestation and avoid potential damage from invasive mussels.
5. Access to Clean Water in Aboriginal Communities: Advancing pathways on improving access to clean water for aboriginal communities in British Columbia.

Students and entrepreneurs from across Canada are of course invited to take part in the competition and propose innovative solutions to the issues.

A Matter of Great Pride

It is an immense source of pride for the Gaspé Beaubien family to see AquaHacking expand at the national level. The protection of the environment and the success of young Canadian entrepreneurs have been at the heart of the Family Foundation’s mission for a long time.

From November 15th to 17th, Charlevoix will host the first-ever Families Summit of Minds in North America. This joint initiative of the Monthly Barometer and the Business Families Foundation (BFF) will bring together entrepreneurial family members, investors, opinion leaders and change-makers to reflect together on the key issues that today’s businesses are facing.

Inspired Exchanges in an Inspiring Setting

The three-day summit aims to stimulate discussion and reflection on many aspects of the entrepreneurial reality of today and tomorrow, in a relaxed and positive atmosphere. Participants will have the chance to enjoy the enchanting natural environment of Charlevoix while taking part in the great brainstorming that will revolve around three main themes: family enterprise, macroeconomics and geopolitics, and well-being.

• On Thursday, November 15th, participants will have the opportunity, among other things, to attend discussions about the impact of physical well-being on a good decision-making, the importance of purpose, intrapreneurial mindset, as well as the duality between wealth capture and wealth preservation.
• Friday, November 16th, will offer a variety of outdoor and experiential activities followed by discussion sessions and a selection of theme dinners to deepen reflection on certain topics. The big panels of the day will focus on original investments, the role of culture in family business, how to think about the long-term in an era focused on instantaneity as well as women and leadership.
• On Saturday, November 17th, on the closing day of the summit, participants will have the opportunity to attend various thematic lunches followed by the final panels on the impact of the migration crisis on family businesses and the role of these families, as well as responsible investment in family businesses.

The full program of the summit is available on the website of the Families in Business Foundation.

A Family Matter

The Business Families Foundation (BFF) is an initiative of the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation. The BFF is dedicated to supporting family businesses of all sizes on an international scale. Although the de Gaspé Beaubien family has made the decision to leave governance in the care of other highly competent families, it remains actively and financially involved with the BFF. Indeed, always committed to the success and evolution of family businesses, de Gaspé Beaubien continues to act as trusted advisors for the BFF.

As an expert in family entrepreneurship, Nan-B de Gaspé Beaubien will be participating in a panel discussion on Friday, November 16th about leadership and women alongside Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, Marie Pier Germain and Françoise Gagnon. A strong advocate of women’s business, she will discuss the involvement of women in family businesses and the impact of their inclusion on the performance of these companies.

The de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation, which comes from a long tradition of family businesses, is proud to invest in ensuring the long-term success of family businesses. According to the vision of the de Gaspé-Beaubien family, it is through hard work, study and collaboration that family businesses can be helped to prosper and to carry out ambitious projects that impact small and big communities.

The Gaspé Beaubien Foundation is proud to support the very first AquaHacking Fest. On September 27th, the AquaHacking Fest will be held at the “Grand Quai de Montréal pavilion”for the grand finale and fundraising of the AquaHacking 2019 challenge. The finalist teams’ solutions will be presented at this gathering and will raise funds to contribute even more to the innovation and the conservation of freshwater sources. Everyone can enjoy the culinary delights of local food trucks as well as a concert by Quebec rapper Koriass while dancing to the rhythm of DJ Manifest’s music.

Innovate to Protect

This year, six teams entered the grand finale of the AquaHacking contest and will have the opportunity to showcase their innovative clean technology solutions to sustainably solve five major issues affecting the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence watershed. The finalists each received $ 2,000 in funding early this summer to fine-tune their solutions, plus an all-expenses-paid expedition to Elbow Lake, Ontario to meet with various industry stakeholders.

The challenges for which teams must propose clean, sustainable and marketable solutions this year are:

• The contamination of rivers by salting;
• Flooding;
• The pollution caused by disposable wipes and micro plastics;
• The public awareness regarding the use of municipal water.

The team finalists will have the chance to win financial support of up to $ 25,000 for the development and marketing of their solutions:

1. The Green Stop (Montreal, QC, Toronto, ON): Intelligent and fast water stations designed in a sustainable manner to encourage the use of refillable water bottles.
2. Bello Water (Montreal, QC): Reinventing the distribution of drinking water by providing sustainable alternatives to plastic water bottles through a simple technical solution supported by an application.
3. Droplets (Oshawa, ON, Montreal, QC): Building public confidence in regards to municipal drinking water with innovative IBM Watson artificial intelligence.
4. Clean Nature (Quebec City, QC, Victoria, BC): Prevent excess road salt through an adapted artificial intelligence (AIM) model based on real-time weather conditions.
5. Chemistry UdeS (Montreal, QC, Sherbrooke, QC): Fight microplastics with an additional lint filter that catches microfibers that pass through the air filters on dryers.
6. Salt-Ed (Montreal, QC): Reducing saline water contamination with road-sanding equipment that is easy to implement, inexpensive and requires no large-scale testing.

Concrete Commitments

In the spirit of cooperation for the conservation of water, Nan-B de Gaspé Beaubien took the initiative to invite an additional panel to discuss concrete solutions on a larger scale. The representatives from the main political parties,who will take part in the federal elections in October 2019, will participate in the AquaHacking Fest event in a debate on concrete political actions they are ready to commit to if they are elected.

The co-chair and matriarch of the Gaspé Beaubien Foundation also launched a petition calling on all political parties to include in their election platform a commitment to extend the restriction on single-use plastics to bottled water and all beverages, except in case of emergencies, before December 31st, 2022.

“My husband and I founded AquaHacking and launched the AquaHacking Challenge in order to create solutions to the most urgent water problems. We need your help to protect our water bodies from plastic waste by ensuring that the proposed restrictions on single-use plastics be also applied to the bottled water and the beverage industry. Canada must play a leadership role in protecting water. – Nan-b Gaspé Beaubien, co-chair and matriarch of the Gaspé Beaubien Foundation.

The Gaspé Beaubien Foundation is proud to invest in concrete and ambitious projects to stimulate Quebec’s entrepreneurship as well as technological innovations serving the conservation of the environment and freshwater sources. For the Gaspé Beaubien family, it is in focusing on ingenuity and the desire to improve the world in which we live that we are able to achieve great things.

Waterloo, ON, (Monday, June 26, 2017) – The de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation, in collaboration with the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo, is proud to announce the 2017 finalists of the AquaHacking Challenge: United for Lake Erie.

Over the last three months, some of the brightest young minds in technology, water management, engineering, and entrepreneurship took part in five challenge days to create innovative, tech solutions for Lake Erie. These applications aim to sustain the health of the lake, its watersheds, and its local communities.

On June 21st, seventeen teams competed in the semi-final at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, where a jury of experts and key players in the local technology industry selected the five finalists:

• ImPONDerable: Developing a citizen science monitoring kit to help people who live near and swim in lakes to know when blooms might pop up, in order to know if it is safe to swim.
• Fertilizer Burn: Working on a hardware retrofit for agriculture fertilizer sprayers that will enable farm equipment to detect levels of fertilizer in the soil, and adjust how much is applied.
• Polygone: Tackling the issue of microplastics by capturing microfibres in the clothes dryer.
• SIM Labs: Building a hardware device to automatically classify and enumerate cyanobacteria.
• Emagin: Aiming to fight untreated wastewater overflow.

Each team will be awarded $2,000 in funding from the Region of Waterloo, as well a two day, all-expense paid expedition of the region to engage with various stakeholders.

Finally, teams will compete in the AquaHacking Summit on September 13th, during Elsevier’s 4th Water Research Conference. The teams will receive up to $25,000 in support to develop and market their solution.

The AquaHacking Challenge would not be possible without the kind generosity of its major sponsors, namely IBM Canada, GHD and Keurig, and numerous field partners.

About the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation

Founded in 1990, the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation is a family-run philanthropic
organization dedicated to water conservation and to supporting family businesses. The
foundation employs an approach known as entrepreneurial philanthropy in its aim to
support individuals, families in business, and organisations in becoming responsible
agents of positive and sustainable change within their communities.

About the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo

The Water Institute is an interdisciplinary hub for more than 150 UWaterloo faculty
members and 400 graduate students who use research and education to address
complex water problems.

Toronto, ON, (Sunday June 9th, 2018) – Five teams have been selected as finalists of the 2018 AquaHacking Challenge Semi-finals.

Over the last three months, some of the brightest young innovators from various universities across Quebec, Ontario and the US formed multidisciplinary teams to create innovative cleantech solutions to solve some of the issues facing the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Watershed. These applications aim to sustain the health of Lake Ontario, its watershed and local communities.

On June 9th, sixteen teams competed in the semi-final at RBC WaterPark Place in Toronto, where a jury of experts and key players in the water and technology industries selected the following five finalists:

• EGC Labs: Real-time data, real-time warnings, long term learning: EGC Labs can help governments identify patterns of sewage overflow and even the reasons behind them.
• E-nundation: Buying property near a body of water? You may want to check if the area has a history of flooding. From providing insurance quotes to forecasting flooding, E-Nundation is innovating the risk management space in water damage.
• M Power Software: M Power Software are bringing together the IoT and AI to predict and measure sewage overflow.
• SWIM: SWIM’s solution presents robust and versatile decentralized sewage overflow detection with their drone-assisted infrared camera.
• Water Puris: There’s already sophisticated technology to break down endocrine-disrupting chemicals. But in the home? Not necessarily. WaterPuris hacks your toilet bowl to degrade EDCs using a combo of hydrogen peroxide and UV light.

Each team will be awarded $2,000 in funding to refine their solution over the summer months, as well a two-day, all-expense paid expedition on Lake Ontario to engage with various stakeholders.

Finally, teams will compete in the AquaHacking Challenge Finals on October 25th during Ontario’s Water Innovation Week, which will be held at the Design Exchange in Toronto. Teams will receive up to $25,000 in support to develop and market their solution.

The AquaHacking Challenge would not be possible without the kind generosity of its major sponsors, namely the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation, IBM Canada, the RBC Foundation, GHD, Keurig, Ovivo, Sanexen, Ontario Power Generation and numerous other partners.

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About the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation and Aqua Forum

Founded in 1990, the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation is a family-run philanthropic organisation dedicated to water conservation and to supporting family businesses. The Foundation employs an approach known as entrepreneurial philanthropy in its aim to support individuals, families in business, and organisations in becoming responsible agents of positive and sustainable change within their communities.

The de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation spearheaded Aqua Forum, which is now also supported by various partner organisations. Aqua Forum runs AquaHacking and is developing a new programme which will focus on positioning water-related issues as a health issue to raise public awareness and incite new action on water quality improvement efforts in North America.

WATERLOO, ON (Wednesday, September 13, 2017) – Leaders from government, First Nations, philanthropically minded businesses, and engaged youth activists were hosted by the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation and the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo at the 2017 AquaHacking Summit to address the many issues facing the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin – specifically Lake Erie.

AquaHacking is a collaborative movement that brings together representatives from federal and provincial government ministries, NGOs, communities, water experts, local incubators and technology firms including Founding Partner IBM Canada, and dozens of “AquaHackers” to foster the quality and responsible use of precious fresh water resources.

“Almost five years ago, our family began what has been an incredible journey to protect Canada’s waterways. At that time, we never could have imagined what AquaHacking would grow into,” said Philippe III de Gaspé Beaubien, President and CEO of the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation. “Now in its third iteration, the 2017 AquaHacking Summit will help connect water-engaged citizens from across Canada and beyond, and hopefully play a small part in fostering the protection of our precious fresh water resources. As a family, we are incredibly proud of, and grateful for, the passion and enthusiasm for this cause displayed by the AquaHacking Challenge Finalists, AquaHacking Youth Delegation, government ministries at both the federal and provincial levels, the Six Nations of the Grand River, and philanthropic businesses both local and national. We believe that the innovative tech solutions presented at this and past AquaHacking Challenges, as well as the exchanges this Summit has helped create, will play a vital role in future efforts to protect fresh water resources. We thank everyone who committed their time and effort to this cause.”

Hosted by The Water Brothers, Alex and Tyler Mifflin, the 3rd annual AquaHacking Summit, “United for Lake Erie,” included both keynote and panel discussions and the AquaHacking Challenge Finals – the culmination of a five-month “hackathon” challenge that saw five finalist teams pitch their innovative technology solutions to the issues facing Lake Erie, including Algae Blooms, Invasive Species, Microplastic Pollution, and Climate Change.

The winning hacking team, SIM Labs, selected by a panel of five experts in water conservation and technology fields, were awarded $25,000 in prize money, a spot at a well-known, local incubator, and 25 hours of consultation and mentorship from leaders in technology and entrepreneurship. SIM Labs’ solution involved the development of a fast and robust method of automatically identifying and counting different species of cyanobacteria and predicting HAB (Harmful Algae Blooms) behavioural trends. Collecting this data will help to better comprehend cyanobacteria behaviour in concerned environments, which will ultimately lead to HAB predictions before they occur.

The 2017 AquaHacking Summit was made possible through the generous support of philanthropic partners, including Founding Partner IBM Canada, GHD, Keurig Canada, Ovivo, Ontario Power Generation, and the Region of Waterloo.

For more information on the 2017 AquaHacking Summit and for quotes from guests and panelists, please visit our DropBox.

ABOUT THE de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation
Founded in 1990, the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation is a family-run philanthropic organisation dedicated to water conservation and to supporting family businesses. The Foundation employs an approach known as entrepreneurial philanthropy in its aim to support individuals, families in business, and organisations in becoming responsible agents of positive and sustainable change within their communities.

What an incredible evening we had at the annual Ottawa Riverkeeper Gala (la Sentinelle de la rivière des Outaouais)—an important event for celebrating the Ottawa River and its essential riverkeepers, such as Meredith Brown.

In addition to the location—Lemieux Island—and the exceptional programming of the evening, which opened with traditional chants and dances, this was a very special event for us. The Foundation was honoured as the winner of the “2017 Water Leader” award, and Philippe IV de Gaspé Beaubien, co-founder of the AquaHacking movement, was present to receive the very symbolic “Tributaries 4” paddle. Alongside Claude Perras, Executive Director of the Foundation, and Dominique Monchamp, Senior Advisor and former ED of the Foundation, Mr. de Gaspé Beaubien shared his joy and thanked everyone who has worked for the past five years to bring AquaHacking to life with results as concrete as the Ottawa Riverkeeper.

Designed by Echo Paddles, the wooden paddle is comprised of four shafts winding together to meet in a single paddle blade, just as the Ottawa River and its tributaries meet at the St. Lawrence River. The tributaries in this case represent the four generations of the de Gaspé Beaubien family, combining at the point where direction and forward movement occur in the water.

Despite a few rain showers during the evening, Lemieux Island turned out to be the perfect location for welcoming some 450 guests. The site was magnificently laid out and decorated under two enormous tents trimmed with hanging lights and white umbrellas. And, of course, there was a generous supply of unlimited food and drink with something for everyone and every taste.

During the evening, we enjoyed the company of Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and his City Councillor, David Chernushenko, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, and Canadian Minister of Environment and Ottawa member of Parliament Catherine McKenna.

Senator Murry Sinclair was also present. He was awarded the title of “Honorary Riverkeeper” and gave a moving speech on the importance of access to water for all, the healing spirit of the river and the vital role that water plays in our lives. Journalist Evan Solomon hosted the event, and singer Kathleen Edwards, musician and Ottawa Riverkeeper ambassador, got the crowd dancing.

Finally, we learned that the event was a true success as it raised more than $265,000, proving that it really does take a watershed to protect a river.

To relive the evening in pictures, check out the Riverkeeper Gala album on Flickr.

At the Great Lakes Economic Forum today, which is taking place in Detroit, Michigan, the Council of the Great Lakes Region and the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation announced their collaborative partnership that will focus on developing the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs using technology and big data to protect and restore the Great Lakes.

“The Foundation’s work related to supporting and growing small and medium sized family enterprises and bringing people and innovation together for a healthier Great Lakes is extraordinary,” said Mark Fisher, CEO of the Council of the Great Lakes Region. “The partnership announced today will allow both organizations to leverage and expand their capabilities, relationships and interests in these areas in order to achieve a greater impact within the bi-national Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region.”

“We are very pleased to be partnering with the Council of the Great Lakes Region,” said Philippe III de Gaspé Beaubien, President and CEO of the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation. “Partnerships like this one are important to our mission of championing emerging innovation and entrepreneurship while bringing together stakeholders from multiple sectors, jurisdictions and generations to create sustainable change within communities.”

Over the next three years, the organizations will collaborate to fulfill their joint mission of protecting and restoring the bi-national Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Region by harnessing its economic strengths safely and sustainably.

Contacts:

Mark Fisher, President and CEO; Council of the Great Lakes Region; mark@councilgreatlakesregion.org

Claude Perras, Executive Director; De Gaspé Beaubien Foundation;c.perras@fondationdegaspebeaubien.org

About the Council of the Great Lakes Region

The Council is a non-partisan, non-profit, bi-national organization committed to deepening the United States-Canada relationship in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, defined by the border states of New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The goal of the Council is to create a stronger, more dynamic culture of collaboration in harnessing the Region’s economic strengths while enhancing the well-being of its citizens and protecting the environment for future generations. It’s where the region comes together as one.

About the de Gaspé Beaubien Foundation

The Foundation is a multi-generational family foundation that is committed to empowering people, families in business, and organizations in becoming agents of positive and sustainable change within their communities. Toward this goal, the Foundation focuses its efforts and resources on supporting initiatives within three pillars that embody its values: Education, Entrepreneurship and the Environment.

About the Forum

The annual Great Lakes Economic Forum, launched by the Council of the Great Lakes Region in 2015 in Chicago, brings business, government, academic and non-profit leaders together from around the bi-national Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region to share insights into the biggest economic, social, and environmental policy issues facing the region and ideas about how the region can work together to ensure its long-term sustainability and competitiveness in a borderless global economy.