Pierre Fillion to head up new Quebec association

Pierre Fillion has been named as the director-general of Federation des Plastiques et Alliance Composites (FEPAC), a newly created association for the plastics industry in Quebec.

FEPAC was created earlier this year after the Canadian Plastics Industry Association‘s (CPIA) Quebec executive committee resigned, calling for the creation of an unaffiliated plastics association in Quebec.

Bernard Poitras, president of Plastique Micron and a past chairman of the CPIA’s Quebec regional executive, wrote a letter to the association in January 2008 accusing the CPIA of being hostile to finding a new governance structure for the Quebec region. The executive committee also felt that the CPIA was too focused on the Ontario region.

In October, FEPAC announced that it had reached its fundraising goal of $80,000, and planned to create a new charter and host its first general meeting.

Fillion is no stranger to the Quebec plastics industry. He was first appointed as Director, Industry Competitiveness with the Canadian Plastics Industry Association in 2001.

Fillion later went on to become the head of the CPIA’s Quebec office, but resigned from his position in December 2007. He was replaced by former CEO Pierre Dubois.

“Pierre’s departure boils down to differences in vision between Quebec and the rest of the CPIA,” said CPIA president and CEO Serge Lavoie at the time. “The Quebec members have a vision that involves a new structure giving them autonomy. This has been an ongoing debate for some time now, and Pierre’s departure has exacerbated this.”

The Quebec executive committee decided to resign from the CPIA and form a new association shortly after Fillion’s departure