See the city in pink

Paris illuminates its Eiffel Tower. Tokyo, its Skytree. Pink also colors fall in Quebec, especially in Montreal, and especially in the nation’s capital, which shines with a moving glow during the month associated with breast cancer.

Isabelle Morin
The Press

It was during a visit to Chicago in October 2010 that the current President of the Council for the Status of Women, then a member of the Board of Directors of the CHU de Québec, had the brilliant idea of ​​dressing Québec in a pink veil for the cause. Upon her return, Louise Cordeau made use of her contacts and convinced the mayor at the time, Régis Labeaume, to see her city in a different light.

In the first year, 29 buildings were illuminated as part of Quebec, city in pink. Ten years later, nearly 80. “It’s a very important act of raising awareness in Quebec. Elsewhere, it is often one or two buildings that light up for 24 or 48 hours. Here, many do it throughout the month of October,” notes the instigator of the movement, while acknowledging her bias: “To my knowledge, no other city is as dynamic in this regard. »

In the early years, the initiative was not immune to critics of breast cancer marketing, dubbed pinkwashing. No sale of object is associated with the event, underlines however Louise Cordeau. Those who light their building do so at their own expense. Some give in parallel for the cause, others do not.

Without measurable impact, what is the point of tinting the urban space, one might ask.

And this beauty also lies in its symbolism: lighting is a gesture of support and solidarity, a reminder that breast cancer claims victims all around us.

Concretely, 1.3 million dollars have been raised since a fundraising campaign, “Les porters de lumière”, has become part of the enlightenment movement. The entire sum was donated to the Center des Maladies du sein at the CHU de Québec for research and the purchase of cutting-edge equipment, in particular devices that can detect breast cancer at an earlier stage in order to avoid biopsies and invasive procedures, or cooling caps which, for certain types of breast cancer, allow those who tolerate it not to lose their hair during their treatment, describes the president and chief executive officer of the foundation from the CHU of Quebec, Marie-Claude Paré. “We always say that we are there for the most, for what the hospital and the government cannot afford. »

Shedding light on breast cancer

Fueling the movement has been harder in recent years, we can see at the CHU de Québec. We also observe uneven responses over the years at the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, which each year solicits different companies and various partners to shed light on the cause. “It’s normal for a campaign to run out of steam a little before coming back,” said the organization’s president and CEO, Karine-Iseult Ippersiel.

Added to the ups and downs of philanthropy, however, are other factors, she says, including a perception that breast cancers are ones from which one recovers easily. “People feel like they’ve given, that it’s settled. This is not the case. The statistics are still shocking. »

With its new campaign launched this week, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation wishes to update perceptions, among others that breast cancer attacks those over 50 years old.

For the past two years, the foundation has been selling pink bulbs that can be purchased on its online store in order to take part in the architectural lighting movement, by illuminating a window, a balcony, a porch… “I understand that we can ask yourself what’s the point if it doesn’t give anything directly. For me, all the campaigns that can be used to light up about breast cancer and the fact that you have to get screened are important. »

Rose and month of October equals breast cancer equals screening and support for the cause: this is the equation that this rose movement wishes to provoke in urban life.

“What we want is for women to take care of their bodies and for them to react, points out Karine-Iseult Ippersiel: you have the right to demand an investigation and you know better than anyone when there is a problem. change between the collarbone, armpits and breast, whether it is a difference in size or shape, orange peel, discharge, hot breast, inverted nipple. There are several other symptoms besides bumps. »