By Gudrun Schultz
TORONTO, Ontario, January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – TD Bank Financial Group has entered into a new business deal with the Quebec Gay Chamber of Commerce (QGCC). The three-year partnership is designed to promote the growth of Quebec’s gay community.
TD Bank will offer services that “meet the specific needs of business leaders in the gay and lesbian community in Quebec.”
In return, TD Bank will be the principal financial institution for the chamber and its members. The QGCC is the second largest Chamber of Commerce in Canada.
“This arrangement meshes with our values, not only inside the company but within the wider community as well,” Edith Ducharme, a bank spokesperson, told the Montreal Gazette on Friday.
“TD Bank Financial Group is especially proud to be the first large bank to announce such a major partnership with this influential association in the Quebec community,” the bank said in a press release Jan. 25.
Ed Clark, president and chief executive officer of TD Bank, publicly revealed the bank’s support for gay and lesbian rights during last years’ annual meeting in March.
“We must be a company where everyone’s sexual orientation is supported. This means that our gay and lesbian employees should feel comfortable applying for same-sex benefits, and all employees, whatever their sexual orientation, believe that they will be accepted for who they are,” Clark said.
TD Bank will sponsor various events in the gay business community, such as the Out for Business conference that will be held in Montreal this summer as part of the OutGames.
It will also sponsor a contest for young gay entrepreneurs with a $15,000 prize for “an innovative project that makes a significant contribution to the growth of the gay community in Quebec.’’
Neither the bank nor the Chamber of Commerce will reveal what financial commitment the bank has made to supporting the QGCC.
To read the TD Bank press release, see:
An historic partnership: TD Bank Financial Group becomes the main partner of the Quebec Gay Chamber of Commerce
https://micro.newswire.ca/release.cgi?rkey=1401250773&view=62342-0&Start=0
To express concern to the TD Bank Financial Group, contact:
Edith Ducharme, TD Bank Financial Group,
(514) 289-8978