This text is part of the special Culture Montérégie notebook
Despite its cultural and heritage wealth, the region suffers from its proximity to Montreal and a method of calculating obsolete government subsidies, concludes a study carried out at the request of Culture Montréal.
It was a little before the pandemic that the idea came to paint a portrait of the financing of culture in the region, explains Pierre-Olivier Saire, research expert and director of Daigle-Saire, the firm which carried out the study entitled State of culture in Montérégie, at the request of the Culture Montérégie organization. Then, during the confinements, “we tried to bring together all the available information to describe the situation in Montérégie, knowing that no study of this kind had been produced for some time,” he continues. Indeed, the last report of this type was produced in 2012 by the Ministry of Culture and Communications.
However, in ten years, the face of Montérégie has changed a lot. The area can boast of being in good financial health and is constantly attracting new residents. However, cultural actors had the intuition that this prosperity had very little impact on their environment. That the financing of their activities and their organizations left something to be desired and that this situation had consequences on the state of the cultural offering.
Coming from various government and institutional sources, the data used in the 2024 study range from 2009 to 2018. A survey was also carried out among different cultural organizations. Unveiled a few weeks ago, the results are unequivocal: culture in Montérégie is underfunded.
Although the region ranks second in terms of its demographics and economic growth, the study shows that “in ten years, despite the increase in its population and its wealth, the situation has not improved and even tends to be maintained,” notes the expert.
Privileged Montreal
This underfinancing is also visible at all levels, starting with the average amount of money spent by municipalities on culture, which places Montérégie in seventh provincial place with an amount of $71 per inhabitant, when the average provincial is $94. Over the ten-year period studied in the report, this amount increased by 2.7%, slightly less than the provincial average of 2.8%.
As for direct spending on culture made by the Quebec public administration — the provincial government, the CALQ, the SODEC, the various agreements between the Ministry of Culture and the municipal sector, etc. —, Montérégie is positioned in third place, with a share amounting to 4.5% of total budgets, while its demographic weight corresponds to 16% of the total population of Quebec. Result: the region ranks 15e rank among the 17 regions of the province in terms of provincial investment in culture, i.e. $37 per capita when the provincial average is $141.
The cultural offering is then affected, and it is deployed unevenly across the entire territory, underlines the study.
“The regions least well resourced by the provincial government are the Laurentides, Montérégie, Lanaudière and Laval. This leads us to an observation which corresponds to a certain conception of culture,” notes Pierre-Olivier Saire.
This traditional conception of culture would like Montreal to be the cultural capital for neighboring regions. Consequently, the latter receive less money, compared to the mainland. “We assume that people who live in these regions naturally go to Montreal to consume culture,” adds the expert. This is what we call “the reverse donut hole”. We usually say that the suburbs are vampirizing the central cities by attracting a large number of residents. But, obviously, this has not followed in terms of funding for culture,” he explains.
Like Mr. Saire, the general director of Culture Montérégie, Nancy Bélanger, notes that awareness is necessary in order to fight against this imbalance. “For these regions, we are at less than $45 per capita in average direct spending on culture on the part of the Quebec public administration in 2019. In Montreal, we are at around $200. » These are choices that governments have made over the decades and we are reaching a moment where we must question them. Do we continue on autopilot by injecting support for culture in the same way in Quebec? We need to review our calculation methods, she believes.
Proximity and accessibility
In the eyes of Mme Bélanger, developing a diversified culture of proximity and quality is necessary. “Montérégie is a region that deserves this. It has 1.5 million inhabitants. We have concert halls, but we don’t have a symphony house, for example. We can say that people can take one of the bridges, but in 2024, we are no longer there,” she judges.
According to the general director of Culture Montérégie, accessibility and proximity to culture bring several benefits to people. “It’s clear that this contributes to quality of life. It is clear that this has an effect on belonging to the territory. Our region needs an interesting and abundant cultural life,” says Nancy Bélanger.
Pierre-Olivier Saire agrees, while explaining the notion of cultural citizenship. “This is one of the rights of the modern citizen,” he says. Everyone must have access to culture. It is anchored in Quebec’s cultural policies, which recognize this principle. »
Despite its demographic and economic growth, Montérégie is struggling to catch up in terms of financing and cultural offerings, insists Pierre-Olivier Saire. “We should review public support for large institutions such as libraries, venues, museums. They are pillars. And it must be done in relation to the volume and dispersion of population. We need to start with catching up,” he believes.
In addition to public support for large institutions, according to Mr. Saire, creating new cultural infrastructures represents another avenue that would make up for the gap. The study also notes high occupancy rates at the heart of broadcasting organizations specializing in the performing arts. This shows that there is enthusiasm, but also that Montérégie has reached a ceiling in its reception capacity.
“There have to be projects. We must invest in culture. Heritage, in Montérégie, must be made a strength. It must be valued. It must be highlighted,” underlines Nancy Bélanger.
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