Michel Rioux, volunteer secretary on the board of directors of Le Devoir inc. from 2001, laid down the pen for a well-deserved retirement. We reproduce excerpts from his last address to the board of directors of the To have to, equal to the man he is: sincere, whole and deeply endearing. Brian Myles, Director of To have to
When he asked me to say a few words to you on the occasion of this somewhat special board meeting, our director suggested that I slip in a few anecdotes, to share some emotion with you, to do so with sincerity. , while interspersing my remarks with elements likely to make you smile.
Vast program, De Gaulle would have said…
The style will certainly be very different from that of the 400 or 500 pages of minutes that I have been able to write since Bernard Descôteaux entrusted me with the responsibility of secretary of this council in 2001. I have seen so many men and women of quality pass through it, people aware of serving a cause that is beyond us all: the defense and promotion of the superior interests of Quebec and its inhabitants.
Larger than life characters
All of my professional and militant life has taken place above all in the shadow of characters who are often larger than life and whose names have already begun to be remembered in history. Whether in the 1960s, at the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs, or in the first Conseil de la langue française, where the major policies resulting from Bill 101 were developed, starting in 1978, or finally at the CSN, above all, where I was an activist for nearly 30 years in the Information Service.
Without our being fully aware of it when we experience them, the events that weave the canvas of a life take on their full meaning when we consider them not in their immediacy, but over the length of time. Curiously, and I realized this while reflecting on what I am saying to you, The duty has often appeared in the background of my personal journey.
During the 85and anniversary of To have to, the director, Lise Bissonnette, had said to Gérald Larose, in my presence: you know, Mr. Rioux is my favorite pamphleteer. But, of course, it is not held in balance…
It is true that it is sometimes an advantage, an incredible favor, that life can do us.
For more than 40 years, I have written columns, first in CSN News, a journal I founded in 1978; then in The Quack, a satirical journal launched by Pierre de Bellefeuille and Jean-François Nadeau and where my signature rubbed shoulders with those of Pierre Vadeboncœur and Pierre Falardeau; and now in L’Aut’journal.
wear an ideal
I spoke earlier about To have to as being something like the conscience of Quebec. This is true at all times, and it is true when both the political status of Quebec and the defense of social justice or the promotion of measures designed to make it prevail are in question.
The duty was on the side of the Quebec people during the two conscription crises.
The duty took up the cause of the asbestos strikers in 1949.
The dutywith other democratic organizations, such as the Liberal Party and the CTCC, which in 1960 became the CSN, mounted the barricades when it came to fighting the Duplessis regime.
The duty prepared and welcomed the Quiet Revolution.
The duty defended rights and freedoms during the October crisis and supported the defense of democratic values attacked by Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa.
The dutyunder the leadership of Claude Ryan, took up the cause of Quebec power by forcing the rejection of the Victoria agreement in 1971, to the chagrin of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
The duty said a resounding “NO” to the Charlottetown agreement in 1992. We still remember Lise Bissonnette’s famous three-letter editorial.
The duty dared to support the Parti Québécois in 1976.
The duty dared to support Yes in the 1995 referendum.
And we could add dozens of occasions when The duty has taken up the cause, visor raised, against any initiative likely to undermine Quebec, its rights, its freedoms, its aspirations. And even his dreams.
Too many are those who, with their eyes riveted on the immediate, try, but misguided in the most beautiful way, to gauge institutions which, like The duty, have a soul. This language may seem clerical, but having a soul means, for an institution, having the vocation of promoting an ideal, of fighting for values, of trying to decipher the meaning hidden behind events which, apparently do not.
A soul does not die out. An idea does not die.
The duty has managed to stay the course because it has been able, at all times, to resist the temptation to succumb to the spirit of the times by committing itself to the long term. Of course, you have to adapt. Which does not mean that we should try to occupy a terrain that others know much better than we do. Seeking to expand its readership, of course. But not at the cost of breaking with what still makes To have to the conscience of Quebec.
On the Board of Directors, I rubbed shoulders with quality women and men, concerned about the common good and conscious of contributing their brick to the construction, always in motion, of an absolutely indispensable institution in Quebec and Quebecers.
precious memories
I will keep a precious memory of Bernard Descôteaux, this paterfamilias. I cannot forget the humor and commitment of Presidents Yves Duhaime and the late Jean Lamarre, men who knew how to stay the course during the many storms that our newspaper had to weather.
For six years, I saw a director with a vigorous entrepreneurial spirit. A director who thinks big for the newspaper he directs. It was Beaumarchais who wrote that praise takes on its full value in the reviews that precede it. Sincerely, Brian will no doubt allow me to continue to criticize him on a title, the choice of a headline, the content of a report. Hello, Brian, for whom it has become almost natural to call me “comrade Rioux”…
Four presidencies
I was secretary of the CA during four presidencies. But the most dynamic was unquestionably the last one. Skillful, persuasive, active on several fronts to open up new perspectives for The duty, also convinced that humor is the best antidote to the constipation of the mind, I must say that André Ryan is among the leaders who have impressed me the most in almost sixty years of commitment. Hello, Andrew!
In closing, I would like to wish Mélanie Valcin, who is replacing me as agent of Fondaction, the CSN Fund for Cooperation and Employment, as much pleasure as I have had in participating in this Board meeting. I want to assure him that it is really worth it.
Greetings and friendships to all of you!
Long life to To have to !