We, the residents of Rouyn-Noranda, the allies of the cultural milieu and the environmental activists, demand an end to the financing of cultural events by the Horne Foundry.
Glencore benefits from a right to pollute which has allowed it to pocket billions for decades. Flora, fauna, all living things are affected. Vulnerable people, pregnant people, babies, children are particularly affected, indirectly with the permission of the Ministry of the Environment. The decontamination certificate authorizes exceedances of standards for emissions of a cocktail of heavy metals: arsenic, lead, nickel, chromium, cadmium, etc. These privileges regarding compliance with provincial standards make it possible to generate easy profits for shareholders.
The Foundry invests in its image by being an important partner of the city’s festivals, such as Osisko en lumière, the FGMAT, the Film Festival, the FMEAT, the Guinguette chez Edmund (for Ed Horne, whose name the Foundry bears).
With everything we’ve learned in recent months, the various partnerships between cultural organizations and the giant Glencore seem illegitimate to us. The chronic underfunding of culture pushes festivals to endorse the greenwashing methods of ecocidal multinationals like Glencore.
Art needs freedom to flourish. Glencore’s donations to culture and other circles encourage self-censorship and a fear of criticizing the company for fear of jeopardizing the finances of sponsored organizations. Can we speak of acceptability, or rather of control strategy? It is a taboo that is important to break in the capital of copper. It is all the funding of culture that must be reviewed to remove it from its subjection to private industry in order to restore to organizations and artists their freedom of speech.
It is in this perspective that we are asking all the cultural organizations that constitute the beating heart of Rouyn-Noranda to put an end to their collaboration with the Horne Foundry.
“Silence is the key to America”
– Vulgar Things
*Signatories:
Paul Cargello
Alex Martel (not Rockfest)
Samuel Touchette
Maxime Gagne
Eloise Dallaire
Eve D’Amours
Nathalie Barrel
Rose-Aimee Giguere
Guy Leclerc
Isabelle Fortin-Rondeau
Amilune Lajeunesse
Nathalie Barrel
Samuele
Safia Nolin
Simon Turcotte
Anthony Denis
Frederique Godefroid
Wood
nadielle
Astrid Nadeau Ouellet
Mathieu Drolet-Dugay
Mr Health
Eliza Berteau
Marc-Andre Larose
Angie Gosselin
Vicky Nephew
Severyne Vae
Chloe Sirois
Valerie Cote
Edith Fluet
Jess Roy
Steph Sens
Julie Miron
Alex Burger
Emilie Rioux
Marc-Etienne Mongrain
Jean-Philippe Villemure
Eli Levinson
William Mansour
Guim Moro
Cedric Soucy
Renee Yoxon
Margaret Tractor
Joel Lavoie
Eric Charland
Sabrina Halde
Rachel Pelletier
Sunny Duval
Debbie Tebbs
Serge Brideau
Claude L’Anthrope
Sophie Bergeron
Jean-Philippe Desjardins
Jean-Michel “Jean Bono” Aubin
Laurie Perron
Gab Lapierre
Sonia Palato
Tamara Weber-Fillion
Stephanie Boulay
Viola “Oli Fera” Ferrando
Vincent Blain
Justine Baril Ali
Luis Angel Arpaiz Soto
Laura Babin
Garance Chartier
Julie Gagnon (Calamine)
Michael Lavoie
Jorie Pedneault
Philip Despres
Frederique-Anne Desmarais
Richard Desjardins