Delegates to the cultural events of the Francophonie Games are imploring the Minister of International Relations, Martine Biron, to reconsider her decision to cancel their participation in the event which begins at the end of July in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In an open letter, published in The dutythey deplore the lack of explanation provided by the government, which mentioned health and safety reasons when Mme Biron decided that Quebec would send neither athletes nor artists to Kinshasa at the end of June.
“This open letter represents a cry from the heart, imploring you to rectify your decision, which proves not only devastating for the Quebec artists concerned, but also for our French-speaking culture and the foundations of Quebec paradiplomacy,” they write.
Even if the federal government is still reluctant to send a delegation because of security risks, the seven signatories of the letter point out to Minister Biron that New Brunswick and France have maintained full or partial participation in the events. sports and cultural activities, while the Wallonia-Brussels Federation is content to send representatives to the cultural section.
Security issues are neither new nor serious enough to prevent other delegations from participating, they say. “There is still time to change this decision,” they say in the letter.
Quebec representative in the digital creation events, Hugues Laplante-Clément maintains that the infrastructures hosting the artistic events were ready, unlike those of the sports events, for which certain fears have been expressed.
“It’s getting a little inconsistent,” he said in an interview. The other delegations have concerns about infrastructure and security, but that does not prevent the artistic delegations from participating. »
A source of bitterness
Simon Emond, representative for the photography events, said that the fact that other delegations have maintained their participation is a source of “bitterness”. “We were really surprised that we decided not to send the artists either,” he said.
In Martine Biron’s office, where the letter was also sent, we simply repeated that “this decision is not easy to make, but it is thoughtful and responsible”.
Earlier this week, the Congolese government wanted to be reassured about the security measures surrounding the event. The Ministry of the Interior indicated that several arrests and convictions had been made in recent days in order to curb urban banditry and counter cases of kidnappings.
On Thursday, the body of deputy Chérubin Okende, a former Congolese minister close to opponent Moïse Katumbi, was found riddled with bullets in Kinshasa, which caused shock waves in the Congolese capital.
After being estimated at nearly 3,500, the number of participants in the Games of La Francophonie was estimated at 3,000 at the start of the week, but the final count should be established shortly.