The organizers of the national holiday defend their decision to have hired the singer Émile Bilodeau to present the concert of June 23 on the plains of Abraham, in Quebec. Their choice raised this week the ire of pro-secular activists, insulted that the traditional Saint-Jean show is hosted by this artist who has repeatedly slain the law on state secularism.
“The organization of the national holiday is done in impartiality, in non-partisanship. That does not mean that we exclude artists who have a partisan spirit. It means that we do not exclude any political camp, ”underlines Frédéric Lapointe, the president of the National Movement of Quebecers (MNQ).
We should have chosen a more unifying host
The MNQ, which organizes Saint-Jean celebrations across Quebec, had already invited Émile Bilodeau, in 2020, to come and sing on the national holiday television show. Without warning the organizers, he appeared on stage with a badge signifying his disagreement with Law 21. had been passed a few months earlier.
Not unifying enough
The Mouvement laïque québécois, a staunch supporter of Bill 21, still has this stunt going through its throat. Its president, Daniel Baril, thought it necessary to write to the MNQ this week to express his disagreement with the return of Émile Bilodeau to the Saint-Jean show as host of the evening. He sees it as an affront to the majority of Quebecers who support a more assertive secularism, recalling that the singer has never been shy to bring the law of the Legault government closer to racism.
“He remains Quebecois and he has the right to express his opinions. But the National Day show is not the place for that. We should have chosen a more unifying host,” said Daniel Baril in an interview with Duty.
The latter defends himself from doing in the “culture of banishment” by affirming that Émile Bilodeau should never have been approached to animate the show of Saint-Jean on the Plains. “It’s not the cancel culture. We are not asking the MNQ to fire him. Nor is he expected to do so. We just say that we do not agree with this choice, “says the president of the Quebec secular movement.
Daniel Baril is surprised that the MNQ, which is openly in favor of Bill 21, has set its sights on Émile Bilodeau. Because in addition to organizing the Saint-Jean shows, the Mouvement national des Québécois has always been throughout its history an organization involved in the political field, positioning itself on many occasions for secularism and sovereignty. But the president of the MNQ, Frédéric Lapointe, does not see there a contradiction with the hiring of Émile Bilodeau.
“The MNQ participates in social debates, but we are organizing a party for all Quebecers, from all political sides. If we were to require artists who participate in one of our 500 shows to make a profession of faith in all the positions we have defended over the years, we would have some of our 500 empty stages,” explains Frédéric Lapointe.
A political Saint-Jean?
The president of the MNQ, however, says he wants to dissuade Émile Bilodeau from making a new political coup this year, like that of 2020.
Joined by The duty, the singer confirms that he does not intend to take a stand against Law 21 on June 23. The singer-songwriter, however, intends to take a stand during the show against the company Glencore, owner of the Horne foundry in Rouyn-Noranda, which has been in the news for a year because of the high levels of arsenic it releases.
“Our enemies are not women who dress differently who want to work in an undervalued field. It’s the private companies that come here, that hurt our environment and poison our children, ”argues Émile Bilodeau, who did not want to respond to the Mouvement laïque québécois for not giving importance to his criticisms.
The Minister responsible for Secularism, Jean-François Roberge, for his part judged that “there is no [lui] to say who should or should not be at the Fête nationale du Québec”.
With Marco Belair-Cirino