3.4 Strategic Partnerships

Collaboration and Cooperation

Throughout the consultations, people told us that collaboration and cooperation must be the hallmark of our approach to development in the 21st century. And not just within an economic context. Presenters stressed the need to develop effective new partnerships between economic and social development stakeholders.

"The first principle of success in economic development is partnership. Partnership is today's way of doing business, because it allows flexibility in our rapidly changing global economy."

- Ms. Barbara Brook, Gander Economic Development Task Force

It was noted by many presenters that cooperation and collaboration, where it is occurring in the province, is achieving significant results. Whether faced with exciting opportunities or difficult challenges, people have learned that successful outcomes are more likely to occur for the benefit of all if they work together to realize them. And this experience is not limited to the community development sector. Businesses are increasingly utilizing strategic alliances and other forms of partnerships (private and public) to pursue new opportunities.

The regional economic development boards, and the newly formed regional committees tasked with implementing the Strategic Social Plan, are leading this challenge at the community and regional level. We need to bring together this effort to a higher more strategic level that focusses on the "big picture" provincially. The Irish have cited this approach as one of the major factors in successfully advancing the economic and social interests of its citizens.

"Creative, innovative and substantive ways must be found to engage all sectors of the province in collaborative efforts to address key economic and social development issues and to facilitate the management of change in the province."

- Ms. Penelope Rowe, Community Services Council of Newfoundland and Labrador

The challenge for us as a people will be to forge new partnerships between government, business, labour and "community" so that we are able to reach out and successfully secure the opportunities available to us at all levels. Success will come only when everyone decides to pull together, when we put old ways and approaches aside for the greater good of the province, and adopt, as our own, a new way of working and thinking. We need to seize the agenda together, if we are to secure the future together.

Priorities for Action

• In partnership with business and labour, government will explore new models of strategic cooperation and collaboration to guide our overall economy in the new millennium. This will include a government sponsored visit to Ireland in the coming months, and possibly to other jurisdictions, to see first hand how this challenge has been approached and used successfully in other areas. Government will also engage the voluntary "community" sector in this process to ensure appropriate linkages between social and economic development are fully considered in any new approach.

• In order to ensure the long term future for the forestry industry on the Island, it will be necessary to sustain and stabilize the current wood supply. This can only happen if all stakeholders work together toward a mutually beneficial solution. Government is committed to addressing this strategically important issue through a collaborative and cooperative approach with all stakeholders.

• A collaborative approach to addressing some of our challenges in the fishery was initiated last year through a new trial bargaining process for the setting of fish prices between the industry and the union. Government played a facilitative role. The new process allowed all stakeholders, including rural communities, to gain maximum benefit from the fishery in a truly cooperative and productive manner. In the coming months, government will work with the industry and the union to permanently institute this new approach through the Fishing Industry Collective Bargaining Act.

• Greater collaboration and cooperation will be needed in other sectors of our economy if our full potential is to be realized. This applies both to cooperation between private sector firms and to cooperation between stakeholders within a particular sector of our economy. Government will give attention to this at the sectoral level as it further develops a framework to guide long term development in strategic growth areas of the economy.

• Government will continue to explore, with the Premier's Council on Social Development, strategies and means to integrate social and economic policy development in the province, building on the directions already charted through the Strategic Social Plan.

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