Quebec City--Vermont Lt. Governor Brian Dubie joined Quebec Public Safety Minister Jacques Chagnon at the podium on Friday to deliver closing remarks to a 2-day meeting of the Northeast Regional Homeland Security Directors meeting. The group is comprised of officials from 10 northeast United States as well as Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces.

Dubie stressed the vital importance of new information-sharing agreements and mutual assistance accords between Vermont and Quebec, and the US and Canada. Both men also spoke about the importance of human relationships in forging cross-border partnerships.

At the close of the conference, Chagnon presented Dubie with a plaque recognizing the Vermonter’s role in improving relations between Quebec and Vermont, “through his efforts for better mutual understanding and laying the foundations of a freer and safer world.”

Chagnon recalled meeting Dubie at the group’s July 2003 meeting in Burlington – the first such gathering to include Canadian officials. “It was the deliberate effort of Mr. Dubie,” said Chagnon, “whose leadership made that meeting possible.”

Chagnon continued, “In those post 9/11 days, it was unconventional to talk of openness and friendship across our borders. It took courage and determination to go ahead with this agenda. Those words represent intrinsic traits for an airline pilot, which Mr. Dubie also is. But it is also common sense for the same pilot who sees no boundaries when he flies thousands of feet above the earth.”

The Quebec City meeting was the first such meeting held on Canadian soil. Chagnon concluded, “Vermonters and Quebecois have had strong links from the very beginning. With the efforts of Lt. Governor Dubie, those forgotten ties have been revitalized, and are stronger than ever.”