Letter in response to Martin Pâquet’s opinion piece, “The principles of the common good”, published on December 7.
My position on Maison Chevalier could not be clearer. This gem should have remained in the public bosom.
If it is no longer, it is because of the Liberals and the Caquists. Do not look any further.
It was the liberal cuts that forced the Museum to close the House to the public and put it up for sale, only to accept, after years of unsuccessful attempts to sell to the public, a private buyer’s offer. And all that was dubbed by the CAQ.
So much for my political positioning. But I am not simply a spokesperson for Québec solidaire en culture. I am also the Member of Parliament for Taschereau, where the Maison Chevalier is located. I work with people on the ground, and the organizations in my constituency have to live with reality, however ugly it may be by the neoliberal governments that have followed one another for a quarter of a century. It does not change my position on Maison Chevalier, it should have remained in the public fold. I can repeat it until I’m thirsty.
Only small consolation, the vaults of the house will remain open to the public and 40 non-tourist workers will be added to the daily life of Old Quebec. For a district that is emptying of its world and its local shops, that will at least be that. How will Old Quebec be able to remain a common good if we continue to abandon it to this future of a frozen postcard for passing tourists? The government is not there to keep our jewels, nor is it there to keep them alive: several of the buildings it owns, especially in Old Quebec, have been left vacant for many years. many years. It’s a whole neighborhood that we are losing. A whole section of the country.
These buildings which, throughout our history, have welcomed people of prayer, students and teachers, shopkeepers, the sick and caregivers, in short which were built to welcome life, must not become the illustrious characters of ‘a wax museum. Our heritage must live on and continue to welcome the community.
For that, the State must get involved much more and better. As for non-state actors, their involvement must be supported and supervised much more solidly than it is at present.
Québec solidaire has multiplied ideas, such as that of SEPAQ-Patrimoine: that the State escape the savage demolition of several threatened buildings in order to transform them into tourist lodges. But it also takes strong ideas outside the world of tourism so that our living heritage can also be transmitted within communities. We have proposed the creation of a permanent heritage committee, which would certainly do better than the short-term vision of the ministers and which would allow, among other things, to think about all this.
But the CAQ, like the Liberals before it, has no interest in any of this. One of the solutions to our problem is to put other people in power. I personally work quite hard on it.