Dominique Vachon joins the Montreal Economic Institute

Montreal, June 17, 2008 – Dominique Vachon is joining the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) as an associate economist. Ms. Vachon brings to the MEI her broad experience of economics and public affairs, which she gained in particular as senior economist and later chief economist and vice president of the National Bank of Canada from 1991 to 2002.

Ms. Vachon is an experienced analyst. For six years she wrote a weekly column in the business newspaper Les Affaires. She was also a regular participant in public affairs programs, including Les affaires et la vie on Radio-Canada, where she was an economic commentator. In 1997, she was awarded the Prix Femme d’affaires by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. She holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Montreal.

In addition, the MEI welcomes three new associate researchers to its team:

• Sylvain Charlebois is associate professor of marketing and associate dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Regina, where he teaches strategic and international marketing at the graduate level. Mr. Charlebois is the author of numerous scientific articles published in Canada and abroad. Born in Quebec, he holds a doctorate in marketing from the University of Sherbrooke. His field of expertise encompasses agricultural policy.

• André Duchesne was president and CEO of the Association des industries forestières du Québec from 1983 to 2002 and president of the Quebec order of forest engineers. In 2002, he received the gold medal from the order of forest engineers, and this May won the 2008 pulp and paper award of excellence from the Quebec Forest Industry Council. He was also a member of the executive committee of the Conseil du patronat du Québec from 1991 to 2002. He is currently a consultant in economics and will be able to share his vast knowledge of the forest industry.

• Ian Irvine has been professor of economics at Concordia University since 1978. Mr. Irvine has published works in the fields of public finance, taxation, health economics, income inequality, Canadian employment insurance and social assistance programs, and crime. He holds a doctorate from the University of Western Ontario and has been a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, the University of Sydney, the University of Colorado, and at University College and the Economic and Research Institute in Dublin.

“These four individuals have each proven themselves in their respective university and business circles,” said Paul Daniel Muller, president of the Montreal Economic Institute. “They will be strengthening our ability to contribute to public policy debates based on rigorous arguments.”

The Montreal Economic Institute is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit body that takes part in public policy debate in Quebec and across Canada, offering wealth creation solutions on matters of taxation, regulation, and reform of health and education systems. Its publications since 2000 have included the Report Card on Quebec’s Secondary Schools.

– 30 –

Information and interview requests: André Valiquette, Director of Communications, Montreal Economic Institute, Tel.: 514 273-0969 ext. 2225 / Cell: 514 574-0969 / Email: avaliquette (@iedm.org)