Friday December 10, The duty headlined in a “A teacher stabbed by a student in Saint-Michel”. The same day and the next day, we were treated to a parade of our elected officials in front of the media. All levels of government have expressed their amazement and dismay at this further act of violence. One more, some might say, in a list that is already too long. To remedy the situation and to reassure the population, we are promised more police officers, more street workers. These gestures, as laudable or relevant as they may be, should not absolve our elected officials of their responsibilities and obligations. And among these, there is the urgent need to provide this neighborhood – and others in eastern Montreal – with quality cultural facilities. I could add the issue of housing and household income, but that is not my point.
The northern part of the Saint-Michel district, that which is enclosed between the Metropolitan highway to the south, the railway line to the north and two old quarries to the east and west, has been waiting for decades for a public library worthy of this name. The existing library – which is too small compared to the needs of the neighborhood – is located south of the Metropolitan highway, and therefore difficult to access for citizens of the northern part of the neighborhood, who have to cross the highway to get there. get there. This same situation is experienced by residents of another enclave in Saint-Michel, this one located east of Boulevard Pie IX, between the same highway and the same railway line.
As for the cultural center, let’s not even talk about it, because there isn’t one in Saint-Michel. Failing that, a partnership agreement between the borough and Tohu (an NPO in the neighborhood) partly compensates for the lack of public cultural facilities in this neighborhood. The high school – public – Joseph-François-Perrault is one of the few stars that shine in this district. Its music program is known and recognized, despite this, this school is still waiting for the construction of its concert hall in order to offer its students (and the neighborhood) a dissemination space commensurate with their talent and their skills. fame.
Whether for the library, the cultural center or the concert hall, the projects are there and have been dragging on for years, even decades. They’re waiting for someone somewhere to say yes. Whether it is the borough, the city center, the school service center or the provincial ministries concerned, all seem to have a good reason to postpone what should have been done yesterday. It is true that the population of Saint-Michel (or of Montréal-Nord, or of Rivière-des-Prairies) does not have the same political or economic weight as that of certain boroughs or certain municipalities.
We cry over the lack of services and places for young people, but it is clear that providing Saint-Michel with quality cultural equipment is not a priority for elected officials. But, fear not, while this politico-administrative ping-pong game is taking place, the street is there to fill this void. In the meantime, we are going to keep it simple and short, we are putting more police and community workers on the ground.
On gray days like today, I come to think that these investments will indeed come true one day, probably when the current population has been replaced by one more educated and richer. On this subject, I invite us all to listen carefully to a song by Plume Latraverse entitled Poor people. Even though it was written more than 40 years ago, and that it would perhaps require some terminological changes to be up to date, it is unfortunately still and still relevant to help us understand the slowness of certain projects in a district like that of Saint-Michel.