It’s a pity that Quebecor almost hides the shocking documentary miniseries Lac-Mégantic — this is not an accident on its Vrai platform, which does not have the same power of influence as the TVA channel or even Club illico.
Let’s face it, it’s not super easy to go to Vrai (vrai.ca), Quebecor’s second digital TV service that hosts lifestyle, documentary and humor content. First, for non-Videotron customers, Vrai costs $15 per month, which is expensive compared to its fairly thin offering. You must then subscribe to it through the QUB mobile application. Are you still following? Perfect.
If you are already in the Videotron environment (Hélix, illico), Vrai’s monthly rates vary between $5 and $15. Et Vrai requires a separate subscription from Club illico, which focuses on fiction series and movies. Are you still listening?
There lies the problem of Vrai: its accessibility. Few people know of its existence, and the way to connect to it would benefit from being made easier. The President and CEO of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau, is also considering merging the online listening platforms Vrai and Club illico, which would be good news for consumers, whose ability to pay is not not infinite, unlike the (fire) power of the cable.
All this to say that Lac-Mégantic — this is not an accidentit’s as moving as it is shocking and it deserves to get as much media exposure as possible.
Constructed with sensitivity and rigor, the four one-hour episodes, directed and co-scripted by Philippe Falardeau (Raspberry time), will make you swear and cry at the same time. Because the explosion of the train filled with 7.7 million liters of crude oil was predictable and preventable, as asserted by author and activist Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, whose essay (Mégantic: a train in the night) which she co-signed served as the backstory for the miniseries.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Philippe Falardeau, director and co-screenwriter of Lac-Mégantic — this is not an accident
The first hour, punctuated by a fatal countdown, exposes all the technical shortcomings and the laxity of government authorities that led to the murderous night of July 6, 2013, when the black train razed downtown Lac-Mégantic and killed 47 people.
Faulty cisterns, rails in poor condition, falsified identification cards and an old locomotive at the end of its working life, a sea of red flags followed this Montreal, Maine & Atlantic train which left North Dakota on June 30. The DOT 111 cars, veritable rolling bombs, then passed through Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Toronto, Côte-Saint-Luc, Farnham and Nantes.
Railroad controller Richard “RJ” Labrie, on duty the night of the tragedy, delivers heartbreaking testimony to the camera. Several excerpts of telephone conversations between him and the driver Thomas Harding freeze the blood. Panic and helplessness can be heard in their voices.
I never would have thought that the strange Edward Burkhardt, former owner of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, would confide in director Philippe Falardeau. But the 84-year-old man, the rail cowboy, shows up at the camera with his smirk and his evasive answers, which release him from any responsibility in the carnage.
The archival images inserted in the documentary show us Ed Burkhardt during his visit to Lac-Mégantic after the explosion, where the angry citizens – and with good reason – call him an old rat. A month later, Ed Burkhardt placed the company with the disastrous balance sheet safe from its creditors.
Do not forget. To save money, it was Montreal, Maine & Atlantic that implemented single-driver work per train, a dangerous maneuver that was never formally banned by Transport Canada.
Tom Harding had told his American superiors that it was risky to ride solo. He had also reported all the defects of locomotive 5017 of the horror train, which caught fire shortly before rolling down the slope from Nantes to Lac-Mégantic. But no one listened to Tom Harding, who did not participate in this excellent series from the Vrai platform.
Obviously, Philippe Falardeau speaks with families who lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy, including that of Frédéric Boutin, the only whole body that was extracted from the rubble of Lac-Mégantic.
It’s impossible not to break when Pascal Charest recounts how he lost his wife and two daughters, who were burned alive in the fire. Take out the tissues.
You will also see former mayor Colette Roy-Laroche, who was an example of courage for all of Quebec. Ten years later, emotions remain on edge when the Méganticois remember that night of hell in the red zone.
And ten years later, outrage remains high because rail regulations haven’t changed, according to the miniseries, and it’s only a matter of time before another community suffers the same horrific fate as Megantic lake.
Who will apply the brakes, adequately, before this horror movie plays again?