The Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, has a lot of work to do. I took advantage of his visit to the Transistor festival which took place last week in Gatineau, his region, to address some crucial issues.
First subject: the abandonment of the famous Blue Spaces project. Launched three years ago, this concept of regional museums in the 17 administrative regions of Quebec benefited from a budget of $259 million for the renovation and development of heritage buildings to accommodate these spaces dedicated to our history.
To date, four buildings (the former convent of the Petites Franciscaines, in Charlevoix, the Frederick-James villa, in Gaspésie, the Vieux-Palais, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the Camille-Roy pavilion of the Séminaire de Québec) have suffered or will undergo renovations. The cost of this work is expected to be around 120 million.
The Seminary pavilion, which was to be the mother house of the Blue Spaces, will now be transformed into a national history museum. The other three places will now have to find a vocation.
PHOTO YAN DOUBLET, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
The pavilion of the Séminaire de Québec will not become a Blue Space, but rather a national history museum.
Seeing that we were heading towards a serious increase in costs (estimated at 1 billion), Mathieu Lacombe decided to put the brakes on this idea described as a “fiasco” by the opposition. “I made this decision and I am proud of it. As a minister, you must be able to unplug a project. »
When this idea was launched, many experts said that the sum of 259 million initially planned would clearly be insufficient. How did the government not see this?
The explosion of costs in construction led me to this choice, either I persevere or I authorized expenses that made no sense.
Matthew Lacombe
Mathieu Lacombe inherited this concept unveiled in June 2021 by François Legault and Nathalie Roy. He quickly realized he had a huge hot potato in his hands. He could not defend this project while the demands of the cultural community are multiplying.
“It is clear that for me, we must instead invest in theaters and organizations that have needs. » This is a phrase that he prefers to repeat in the cultural community.
Although he abandoned the Blue Spaces project, Mathieu Lacombe defends with great enthusiasm that of the future national history museum that he imagines to be up to date. “I have the ambition to make it the most digital museum in the country. We need to attract young people. I don’t just want dates and portraits of people who ruled us on the walls. »
During a podcast interview conducted in front of the audience at the Transistor festival, his relationship with his counterpart in Ottawa, Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, was discussed. We often have the impression that the flow between these two politicians is very difficult.
Mathieu Lacombe challenged the host to organize a meeting that would bring them together on stage. “I like it, Pascale, it’s just that we work for governments that defend their areas of expertise. »
Precisely, on the subject of areas of expertise. A few days ago, Mathieu Lacombe mentioned the creation of a fund financed from the taxation of web giants in order to help the media. He was responding to a question from Sol Zanetti, MP for Québec Solidaire, who came up with this idea.
I told him of my perplexity. Pascale St-Onge did exactly this work over the last year by collecting 100 million from Google. Are we going to repeat the same exercise at the provincial level? What power do we have to take such a step? Aren’t we at risk of breaking the agreement with the federal government?
Mathieu Lacombe defended this approach with moderation. “It’s an idea worth looking into, but it’s not something that’s on top of my pile. »
The Quebec minister agrees that he did not discuss this with Pascale St-Onge.
You are right to say that if we duplicated the work, it would not be constructive or profitable. That said, it is not true that Quebec culture will be decided in Ottawa.
Matthew Lacombe
This phrase has become a real favorite for the Minister of Culture and Communications.
Mathieu Lacombe announced the creation of a cultural passport for young people. The age range and value have not yet been determined. One thing is certain, the minister is taking advantage of the French and Spanish experience to avoid slippages (in France, young people used the sum to buy a computer).
“The passport must be used for Quebec cultural products, for me that is very clear. »
The one who has the reputation of being proactive also intends to bring order to the programs of the Société de développement des industries culturelle du Québec (SODEC) and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) which he considers too complex. To spectators at the Transistor festival, he told that if they saw certain programs, “they would have a nosebleed.”
“I look at this and I’m discouraged. Are we required to have a program for filmmakers under 25 who want to make a film on the reproduction of monkeys on Île d’Orléans? Or, a program on the revitalization of old houses located on the odd side of a certain street in Quebec? I’m exaggerating, but there are so many programs. And they must be administered. After that we wonder why our hands are still tied. I say: let’s simplify and cut red tape. »