(Lac-Mégantic) The Musi-Café in Lac-Mégantic, where some thirty people perished on July 6, 2013, will mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy on Friday evening.
When the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA) ghost train derailed and exploded in downtown Lac-Mégantic on the night of July 6, 2013, 28 of the 47 victims were at the Musi-Café.
But the Musi-Café is not only the epicenter of the worst railway disaster in the country, it is a bit of a symbol of the resilience of the people of Mégantic.
“It’s hard to explain, for many Méganticois, it’s as if the Musi-Café belonged to them,” said Katie Stapels, who, with her husband, bought the popular restaurant-bar in 2022.
Relatives of victims of the tragedy, but also people who narrowly avoided death on July 6, 2013, still frequent the Musi-Café today.
“It surprised me at first to see that these people still came to eat here, people who were at Musi-Café the evening of the tragedy, but who left at the right time. »
Friday evening, the Musi-Café will mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy by organizing an evening show.
Dany Flanders will perform on stage.
“We will start quietly, we will commemorate the tragedy, but the more the evening progresses, the more it will be festive, because life must go on,” explained the singer from the region.
“It will be an emotional evening, in comfort and respect, like Thursday,” said Katie Stapels.
Thursday, exactly 10 years after the tragedy, several Méganticois met at the Musi-Café. It is also the first place that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited after participating in the commemorations at the Sainte-Agnès church.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, THE PRESS
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his visit to Lac-Mégantic on Thursday.
“He shook hands, took pictures, it was a surprise for everyone, he looked very moved,” said Katie Stapels.
About thirty supporters of the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety in Lac-Mégantic also met at the Musi-Café after the Prime Minister’s visit.
Among them, there was Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, activist and author of the book “A train in the night”, which inspired the documentary series “Mégantic: this is not an accident” by Philippe Falardeau.
“We gather in this symbolic place to talk about rail safety and ensure that there is no more tragedy like that of Mégantic. It’s still great to see all these people gathered here,” she said.
Seated at the same table as Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, there were survivors of the tragedy, relatives of victims, one of the three co-defendants of the tragedy who was cleared in 2018, the lawyer responsible for the class action brought against Canadian Pacific and various representatives of citizens’ groups.
It was Robert Bellefleur, spokesperson for the Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety in Lac-Mégantic, who had invited all these people.
“The Musi-Café has become the symbol of the reconstruction of the city center after the tragedy,” he explained.
The restaurant-pub was rebuilt in 2014, a few hundred meters from the old one.
“He represents the will of the Méganticois to defy fate, at the time. Rebuilding the Musi-Café was a way to take control of our future,” underlined Robert Bellefleur.