The Blue Spaces network no longer provides many vital signs. The construction sites of the rare regional cultural centers planned by the CAQ government have been at a standstill for months. There is no indication that other projects will be concretely launched in the near future to achieve this quarter of a billion promise made in June 2021.
An impenetrable lead cover also covers the information and data concerning the evolution of costs and deadlines for the development of the seventeen cultural centers promised by Quebec, if they are all still in plan. A recent Freedom of Information request regarding the network was received almost entirely redacted.
“It is therefore impossible to know where we started precisely and what the expected cost of the projects is today. There is real opacity on the part of the government. We are in a nebula, in the dark,” comments Liberal MP Michelle Setlakwe. This fall, the official opposition critic for culture and communications the unsuccessful request for access to information.
“I think that the government moved forward a little too quickly and without studying the file,” adds the MP. This network was to be the cultural legacy of the Prime Minister, a legacy which was to highlight Quebec’s cultural heritage. I have nothing against the mission. It’s even interesting to rehabilitate and redevelop heritage places. But to make a premature announcement and pull the figure of around 260 million out of a hat was not realistic from the start and the fears seem to be confirmed. »
The discussions within the liaison committee set up by the Ministry of Culture and Communications (MCCQ) in the museum sector give another indication of the stagnation of the file. According to information obtained within the ministry, Blue Spaces have not appeared on the agenda of meetings since the beginning of June 2023, although they were at the center of discussions until then.
“The impression is that the budget will be used to develop the four most advanced Blue Spaces and that after that, there will be no others,” says a person who took part in the discussions on the development of Blue Spaces within the MCCQ over the last two years. She requested anonymity.
Stagnation
The “monitoring table” from the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) which manages the projects gives no indication of the initial costs, adapted budgets and delivery dates. We only learn information on the stage of advancement of future cultural spaces: three are at the “start-up” stage, seven are designated as “preliminary project” and five appear without any mention (Bas-Saint- Laurent, Mauricie, Nord-du-Québec, Laval and Centre-du-Québec).
Three Blue Spaces are being created in Quebec, Percé and Amos. The latter city sold the Old Palace building to the SQI, but the project has been stagnating for about six months.
“There is still work being done to define what the Blue Space will be for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, however, we have no news for the call for tenders for the development or on the work schedule, says the mayor, Sébastien D’Astous. What is deplorable is that we had a building which was used by our cultural community and which is no longer used for the moment. »
The initial timetable providing for the opening of this Blue Space in 2025 seems all the more unrealistic as reconstruction costs have certainly increased since the accounting projections for 2021. “We have done the necessary work to speed things up. The ball is now in the government’s court,” said the mayor.
In Baie-Saint-Paul, the project is also showing signs of stagnation. There, the plans aim to transform a wing of the former mother house of the Little Franciscans of Mary into a museum, which corresponds to approximately a fifth of the convent site. The large complex of some 180,000 square feet abandoned by the congregation in 2017 has since been used for various administrative, community and cultural functions.
The sale of the coveted portion of the city building by the SQI had not yet been completed in mid-December. “The City is the owner and we have not yet gone to the notary,” said the mayor, Michaël Pilote. The transaction was carried out for a symbolic sum, but the city moved at great expense its municipal services which occupied the building coveted by the SQI.
What would be installed there as a project and the key dates also remain to be defined. “We are waiting for news on the concept and the deadlines,” summarizes Mayor Pilote, explaining that at the origin of the project, the MCCQ evoked a tribute to the great builders of the Charlevoix region. “We hope to have details in the next meetings with the ministry. »
Laconic responses
The MCCQ remains very laconic in its written responses to questions from the Duty. “The work at the Camille-Roy pavilion of the Séminaire de Québec is starting and that at the Frederick-James villa in Percé is being finalized,” indicates the text sent by the MCCQ media relations team. “The project at the Old Palace of Amos is at the plans and specifications stage, therefore in the planning stage. […] The inauguration dates, published in the Infrastructure Projects Dashboard of the Treasury Board Secretariat, will need to be updated. »
The response mentions a budget of 299 million, or 262.2 million for infrastructure and 36.8 million for the first five years of operation of the equipment. The four Blue Spaces in development, however, already took up 153 million of the 262.2 million budgeted. The development of the Camille-Roy pavilion of the Séminaire de Québec, parent company of the network which will include 17 other places of memory, increased from 47.25 million to 60 million.