Catherine Dorion has sat in the National Assembly for almost four years, but the actress and poet has not given up on art, which allows her to get out of politics for a moment to better reconnect with the essentials. “Renouer” is also the title of the documentary she is co-directing, in which we follow the MNA for Taschereau and her associates Sol Zanetti and Émilise Lessard-Therrien travel across Quebec to give citizens a voice.
This unprecedented artistic approach for deputies in office is intended to be non-partisan. But with the election less than seven months away, it’s hard to ignore politics. Especially since the people interviewed in this medium-length film plead in turn for the need to protect the environment, to forge links between communities, to believe in a collective project, to find time in this world which is going far too quickly… Something to set the stage for the ideas defended by Québec solidaire.
“The people we see are not activists from Québec solidaire, and we did not check who they were voting for, assures Catherine Dorion. We went to look for very different people, and these are the answers that came out. These are values that unite and which can constitute an outline beyond partisan lines. »
Regardless, the National Assembly has ruled that the project launched by Catherine Dorion and her two colleagues three years ago was not partisan and therefore did not contravene the rules of ethics. It will have cost a total of $53,000, an amount that the three elected officials drew from the operating budgets of their constituency offices and which is usually used for display advertising for MNAs.
“We have nothing against Christmas cards or direct mail. But we wondered if there was not a way to use this money to give voice to citizens, rather than to showcase ourselves. Sol and I, who have known each other for a long time, had the idea for this film. And Emilise [députée de Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue] immediately wanted to get on board, telling us that if we did a project like this, it was absolutely necessary to meet people in the regions, ”says the MP for Taschereau.
Different, but all the same
Reconnect therefore aims the cameras at Quebecers of all origins, from Témiscamingue to the lower town of Quebec. Despite the world that separates them, when asked how they see the future, their answers all end up coming together. The only sticking point: the sovereignty of Quebec, which divides two friends in a fried chicken restaurant in Ville-Marie, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. A scene that is reminiscent comfort and indifferenceby Denys Arcand, from which Catherine Dorion’s project borrows by its visual style and its rhythm, all in much less cynical, of course.
The film may claim direct democracy, but we never hear one of the randomly selected speakers complaining about the number of immigrants or the price of gasoline. Even at the Truck Rodeo, a truckers’ festival in Notre-Dame-du-Nord, where part of the documentary was filmed. Maxime Laurin, who participated in the production with Catherine Dorion and Samuel Matteau, swears that they did not cut the comments that leaned more to the right in the editing to follow any editorial line.
“We really let ourselves be guided by the answers we received. What surprised me the most was how, regardless of where we come from, regardless of our differences, we all need the same thing. And the conclusion is really that the love of the territory and the need to belong to a community are really present everywhere, whether you’re at the Truck Rodeo or at the Chester Fried Chicken in Ville-Marie”, indicates the one who does not describe himself as a politicized person, although he was already a member of Québec solidaire.
A political statement?
The left-wing band has always defended living together and protecting the environment, omnipresent themes during this ambitious fifty-minute vox pop. And yet, the party has stagnated in third or even fourth place in the latest polls on voting intentions. How to explain this dichotomy?
“The National Assembly is not the most fertile place to lead the struggles that really matter. When we are in the campaign, Québec solidaire is a party that has the street in its veins, because that is where we come from. I think we’ll be back in the north at the next election,” underlines Catherine Dorion with unwavering enthusiasm.
For now, his energies are focused on promoting this film, which is particularly close to his heart. The member for the Quebec region hopes that it will inspire other elected members of the National Assembly, all parties combined. Art remains, according to her, the best way to reconnect with what is fundamental, with people, with convictions. A necessary parenthesis through this parliamentary hubbub, incompatible with any long-term vision.