We, the authors involved in the issue initially planned as the summer issue of the journal Relationshipswish to express our deep indignation at the suspension of the activities of the Justice and Faith Center, which include Relationships, decided by its board of directors. We are also dismayed by the team layoffs, which we view as abrupt and without valid justification. They represent a disavowal of the values of solidarity and respect which should animate this institution, values central to our desire and our commitment to collaborate with the journal.
We were informed of the interruption of publication through informal channels (social networks, word of mouth, etc.) even though we had carefully planned, thought-out and worked on texts for several months, bearing perspectives, analyzes and themes that we were eager to submit to the readership, these texts were in the final editorial stages. Several texts contained current information which will not necessarily be up to date in a more distant horizon.
The decision of the board of directors of the Justice and Faith Center to put everything on hold, not taking the trouble to contact us and, therefore, leaving us without clear indications as to the timetable for a possible resumption, except for communications in the media to the effect of postponing the issue to the fall, shocks us and raises many concerns. As contributors to this issue, we would like to specify that our texts belong to us. In solidarity with the laid-off employees, we will refuse to be published by an organization which treats its work team in this way and which shows no respect for the work of those who create the content of the journal (authors and authors, but also artists and illustrators).
Through its decision, the board of directors has not demonstrated the respect due to the importance of the publication for its readership and subscribers nor for the ecosystem of Quebec cultural journals, at a time when the diversity of voices and critical thinking are particularly crucial. A magazine is a large community which must be kept alive, which is nourished by all those who participate in it, read it, talk about it, who promote it and highlight it.
The board’s decision also demonstrates a lack of understanding of the journal’s production deadlines, as recently reported The duty. Moreover, we do not understand how the board of directors can assume that we will collaborate in resuming the publishing process where it was last March, thinking that this interruption of up to six months will not have no harm on us, that it will not affect our willingness to distribute our graphic creations or to lend our pen for the writing of an article; we were proud to contribute to a “critical, supportive and committed” journal, but our confidence is now shaken.
We therefore call on the management of the Justice and Faith Center to reverse its decision, to act with transparency and respect towards its employees, readers of the magazine and its collaborators. We hope that our concerns will be taken into account and that measures will be taken to restore the bond of trust and repair what can still be repaired.
* Also co-signed this letter: Gabriel Arsenault, associate professor of political science, School of Advanced Public Studies, University of Moncton; Andrée Sophie Cabot, visual arts artist; Marc Dumas, University of Sherbrooke; Caroline Dusty, artist; Julie Laplante, professor anthropologist, University of Ottawa; France Leduc, graphic designer; Quentin Lehmann, activist at the Ecothèque; Samuel Lesage, union advisor; Pattie O’Green, semiologist, writer, art historian and urban forester; Manon Massé, Member of Parliament for Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques, interviewed for the Grand Interview in the summer issue; Andreas Rutkauskas, artist and professor, University of British Columbia; Mohammed Taleb, Algerian writer.