Parents at an elementary school in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, were “outraged” to find that a fresco painted on the asphalt in the street in front of the establishment was cleaned just a few days later, wasting hundreds of liters of water and gasoline.
Like many parents, Danick Hébert was initially delighted to see that a large colorful fresco had been painted on the section of rue Biencourt located in front of the Fernand-Séguin school last week.
The speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour was clearly visible, which he thought would encourage cars to slow down.
Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault is launching a new road safety awareness campaign in Quebec on September 6, 2023. A fresco was painted on the ground for the occasion. Photo Marc-André Gagnon.
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The work, which was produced as part of an advertising shoot by the SAAQ for an awareness campaign on speed in school zones, was however quickly deleted after the filming and the press briefing held by the minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, to launch this campaign last Wednesday.
Mr. Hébert says he saw, while picking up his boy from school on Thursday, three workers operating gas-powered pressure machines to clean the fresco. The operation lasted more than a day since the cleaning, which had started in the morning according to information obtained from school staff, was far from complete at the end of the day Thursday, he says.
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“There were several parents, everyone was unanimous, we were completely outraged,” says Mr. Hébert, who could not believe this waste of water, gasoline and paint.
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Danick Hébert considers that the filming carried out for an awareness campaign in no way justifies this waste.
“It’s no longer acceptable these days, it doesn’t happen,” he said.
For its part, the SAAQ indicates that for “road safety issues, the City of Quebec and the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility required the removal of the entire work at the end of filming to avoid any traffic ( automobile, cyclist or other) on the fresco.
The ad will be broadcast from September 18 on various digital platforms.
With the collaboration of Marc-André Gagnon.