What happened to the two lions on the pediment of one of the most important historic buildings in Quebec history? Neither the City of Montreal nor the Ministry of Culture were notified of this intervention, which transformed an emblem at the heart of Montreal’s history into red and gold, even though the site is in principle protected to the highest degree. The intervention was not authorized, we learned The Duty.
Now painted in electric colours, with lions whose original finesse has been considerably altered, the pediment of the Old Seminary of Saint-Sulpice should have been the subject of great attention, as experts pointed out yesterday to DutyThe building, erected between 1684 and 1687, is one of the most important witnesses to the history of Quebec.
The disguise of the coat of arms on the facade of the Old Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Montreal took the authorities by surprise.
The office of the Minister of Culture and Communications (MCC), Mathieu Lacombe, indicates that such a thing has never been authorized. However, it is specified that, “in the case before us, the minister delegated his powers” to the municipality of Montreal.
Since 2018, it is the City of Montreal that exercises the power to authorize work in such a declared heritage site.
After having noted in The Duty the results of the intervention carried out on this 17th century buildinge century, the MCC contacted the City of Montreal to find out the exact time. “We contacted the City. And the City confirmed to us that there was no request made on their side to this effect,” explains Catherine Boucher, press attaché at the MCC. “Neither the city nor the ministry received a permit application.”
In the office of Mayor Valérie Plante, it is confirmed that Duty that the municipality “has not received any request” for work. “The CCU [Comité consultatif d’urbanisme] “did not give an opinion on this question either,” it is also answered. Duty.
Yet there are several layers of protection that are supposed to protect such a building from any untimely intervention. In principle, the buildings of the Old Seminary and its site are protected by the City of Montreal, the State of Quebec and the federal commission. Added to this is the fact that the whole complex has been “located in a heritage site” since 1964. According to the City of Montreal and the MCC, despite these legal barriers, the Sulpicians nevertheless went it alone.
Under the law, the municipality is able to prosecute offenders. Dutythe mayor’s office indicated that it had not yet reached that point.
“It’s a violation of the law. What message does it send if we don’t pursue it?” observes lawyer Charles Breton-Demeule, professor of municipal law at the University of Quebec in Outaouais.
For its part, the MCC specifies that it “intends to support Montreal to ensure that the necessary follow-up will be carried out.”
In 2020, the former lords of the island of Montreal, the Sulpicians, dismissed all the professionals supposed to watch over their rich heritage collections that touch on the origins of Quebec and Canada. Following the revelations made by The Duty On the state of affairs, the Minister of Culture and Communications of the time, Nathalie Roy, had indicated the State’s desire to protect all documents and artifacts, under the terms of the law. These remain more or less accessible to the public today. The Sulpicians have since equipped themselves with a new, reduced team to take care of their heritage treasures.