I attended last night, from 5 p.m. to 11:45 p.m., the extraordinary meeting of the Union of Quebec Writers and Writers (UNEQ), which turned into a veritable dialogue of the deaf. Since most of the meeting consisted of dealing with technical communication problems, discussion about the second point of the meeting, relating to the sale of the Writers’ House, was non-existent. While the first five hours were devoted to addressing the first point concerning the royalties to be paid to UNEQ, the second point, concerning the sale of the Writers’ House, was not addressed until 11 p.m.
The vote on this crucial subject was held at 11:30 p.m., after only three interventions from an audience reduced by a third because of the late hour. The result: 179 against the sale and 185 for, without counting those who could not vote because of a technical problem.
Asking for the vote at this time was probably understandable, given the time, but not desirable given the importance of the issue: it was one of the only two points of this meeting.
I understand the members still present, exhausted and anxious to go to sleep, to have agreed to resort to this vote, but I ask the officials of the UNEQ to launch an Internet consultation on this subject in order to legitimize or not the vote taken in assembly.
Remember that the UNEQ, moreover, had refused to respond to the proposal of 200 members to proceed by referendum. The circumstances of the vote make this proposal more desirable, even necessary.
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