Retrospective 2023 | The year of all battles

Media crisis, public desertion, history of prejudices about the Quebec accent, the year 2023 was that of several struggles. Through this, Michel Houellebecq, Buffy Sainte-Marie and La Zarra have made headlines. And not for the right reasons!

Bad choice

It happens that because of an unfortunate gesture, an artist’s career suddenly takes a nosedive. Two examples of this have come from France over the past year, first from a beginner singer, but also from a seasoned author. La Zarra, this Moroccan-Quebec artist who represented France at the last Eurovision contest, showed up for the final with a very attractive song, careful staging and an impeccable look. She arrived with the firm intention of winning first place. Disappointed to see that she only got a 16^e instead, the singer lowered then raised her middle finger (we call it a toz) in front of cameras around the world. Result: the formidable springboard that she should have enjoyed was broken in two in the time it took to say it. The other example of a spectacular slip-up is the author Michel Houellebecq and the curious “porn” film by a Dutch director in which he appears with prostitutes. Discovering the images of the trailer, the author tried to block its release. In a work entitled A few days in my lifeHouellebecq described this period, undoubtedly one of the darkest of his career.

That awful Quebecois accent

Last October, I wrote a column to denounce the decision of CBC Podcasts, the division that produces and broadcasts podcasts in English for the Crown corporation, to have entrusted the French adaptation of the series Alone – A Love Story to a company established in France. I pointed out that the OHdio team, the platform that does the same thing at Radio-Canada’s French Service, had tried to make its English-speaking colleagues understand that this was not a good idea. “We didn’t want a French person from Quebec, to encourage international interest,” said Cesil Fernandes, executive producer at CBC Podcasts, to defend his decision. The matter was quickly reported to the office of Catherine Tait, CEO of the public broadcaster, who rushed to stop this operation. It is the OHdio team which will now be responsible for producing the French adaptation of this series for the entire French-speaking public. We hope that the French will appreciate the colors of our accent. They never stop praising its beauty when we visit them.

Let the real Buffy Sainte-Marie rise

For decades, artist Buffy Sainte-Marie has symbolized a strong indigenous presence in the Canadian musical world. She is a pioneer, a source of inspiration for several artists. So, imagine the surprise of the Canadian public when the CBC reported that it had found the artist’s birth certificate which indicates that she was born in 1941 in Massachusetts and that her parents are white. Family members in the United States told the CBC that Buffy Sainte-Marie was not adopted and did not have Indigenous ancestry. The one who created the song Now That the Buffalo’s Gone, on the loss of indigenous lands, wanted to respond to the journalists who carried out the investigation. “Being an Indian has little to do with sperm tracking and colonial record keeping: it has to do with community, culture, knowledge, teachings, who claims you, who you love, who loves you and who is your family,” said the artist, now 82 years old. His indigenous origins, however, have disappeared from the biography which appears on his official website.

Dark year for the media

In August, we learned of the “end of activities” of the 17 publications of the Métro Média group which provided essential coverage of local news. Dozens of young colleagues lost their jobs. This sad announcement was added to the long list of media outlets that have closed their doors, reduced their staff or reduced their reach. I am thinking of the elimination of the paper editions of the Coops de l’information newspapers (The sun, The right, The gallery, The Nouvellisteetc.), the abolition of the Sunday edition of Montreal Journal and the numerous signals sent by major English-speaking dailies in recent months. How many will it take? I asked. How many other signs will be necessary for us to fully appreciate the extent of the crisis facing the media in our country? After the closure of the Métro newspapers, there was the announcement of the abolition of 547 positions at TVA and 800 others at Radio-Canada. The year 2023 was undoubtedly a dark year for Canadian media.

What are juries for?

One of the things that shocked me the most during the year was the matter of the monument intended to commemorate Canada’s mission in Afghanistan and which is to be installed on LeBreton Flats in Ottawa. Remember that following a design competition, a jury decided that the work proposed by the artist Luca Fortin, from the architectural firm Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker, from Montreal, and Louise Arbor, ex- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was the best choice. However, the government still decided to submit the finalist works to a survey of veterans. Result: on June 19, two hours before the announcement, the winners were notified that the government had decided to select a concept created by another team formed by visual artist Adrian Stimson, an Armed Forces veteran and member of the Siksika First Nation in Alberta and the MBTW landscape architect group from Toronto. Documents obtained by the Bloc Québécois show that the Prime Minister’s office took a close interest in this issue. In short, a jury of experts makes a decision, which is called into question by a bogus poll, which serves as a pretext for the government to rise above the fray. We call it democracy in disguise for Halloween.

Public crisis

During the year 2022, I addressed the issue of toxic spectators who poison the lives of their neighbors by speaking during a show or film, by circulating during the performance or by insulting the theater staff. I can’t end the current year without talking about the spectators… who no longer go to the show. Ticket prices, accessibility problems, oversupply, difficulty finding parking (at least in Montreal), all these reasons are cited by those who no longer go to see shows. I took the liberty of adding another reason: the tempting offer of the digital universe to which we have access from our soft sofa. The next year will undoubtedly be marked by a deep reflection on our relationship to the world of performing arts. What else can he bring us? And why should we reconnect with the unique pleasure of the stage?