Less than three weeks before the Pope’s visit to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, the mayor of the municipality and many merchants are still waiting for a definitive plan regarding the security and logistics of the event.
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“The most urgent thing right now is that [les intervenants] Safety take us out a final plan. From the beginning, they came out with different plans that change. We have reached the point of telling them: enough is enough, ”drops Jacques Bouchard, mayor of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Sûreté du Québec and the close guard of the Holy Father are the stakeholders targeted by the mayor.
“They have to talk to each other and make a plan,” he argues.
Nearly 15,000 people are expected at the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica and around the municipality on July 28, when a mass will be celebrated by the Pope.
The area will be cordoned off and will not be accessible by car.
The mayor also indicates that efforts are concentrated on everything surrounding security. The government granted a grant of nearly $2 million to the municipality for its preparations.
“For safety, everything has to be climbed. The RCMP and the SQ ask us for things that we must accomplish, continues the mayor. We are in the process of [ficeler] the amounts that it can cause to file it with public security”.
These include security guards – which the organization is still looking for – equipment to block streets and communication devices.
“You really have to have access to these services,” drops the mayor.
This is a very short time to manage to organize all that remains to be done.
“It’s a big challenge,” admits Mr. Bouchard.
In the afternoon, Wednesday, he received more information about traffic which would be less restrictive than expected for people in the area.
Confused traders
Several traders say they no longer know which foot to dance to prepare for this major event.
The owner of the Montagnais restaurant, located on Sainte-Anne Boulevard, is also beginning to get impatient.
“It’s so difficult to know something and you never know if the information is good or not,” drops Claude Ménard.
Photo Catherine Bouchard
The owner of the restaurant Le Montagnais, Claude Ménard, deplores the many changes of plan for the visit of the pope.
He would like to reassure his employees, especially for traffic, in vain.
“It’s starting to be time for us to know certain things,” he continues.
The director of the Côte-de-Beaupré medical clinic, Guylaine Pichette, is also looking forward to knowing the plan of the big day.
Photo Catherine Bouchard
Guylaine Pichette, director of the Côte-de-Beaupré medical center, believes that the day of the papal visit will be a great challenge
“The situation is constantly changing, I think it is not caned yet. I also think that’s the reason why we don’t have an approved plan yet, ”she observes.
It must reassure patients and staff members, despite the significant lack of information. The only certainty she has is that this day will be trying for everyone.
“It won’t be easy”, drop mme Pitcher.
Faced with these fears, Benoît Thibault, president of the organizing committee of the papal visit to Quebec, replies that the organizing committee is working “in collaboration with the municipalities and the police forces” to prepare for the arrival of the sovereign pontiff. He also adds that more information was sent yesterday to the municipality.
– With the collaboration of Simon Baillargeon
What they said:
- “Since the beginning we have been on standby with security. The RCMP, the SQ and the close guard of the pope must talk to each other and make a plan” – Jacques Bouchard, mayor of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.
- “Our employees ask us questions and we are not able to answer, because we do not even know it ourselves” – Claude Ménard, owner of the restaurant Le Montagnais
- “It’s an extraordinary event, we don’t really know what to expect” – Guylaine Pichette, director of the Clinique Médicale Côte-de-Beaupré
- “The concern is mainly about traffic so that people in the area can go to work. Who will compensate if we can’t go to work? It cuts our life a little” – Samuel Gagnon, manager of the Hempire store
- “We don’t even know if we will open during the hours when the Pope will be visiting” – Cédéric Pichette, cook at Le Montagnais restaurant
Photo Catherine Bouchard
Samuel Gagnon and Cédéric Pichette, workers from Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, believe they have too little information on the event of the Pope’s visit