While calls follow one another for the Quebec government to buy the heritage house of historian François-Xavier Garneau, the Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, rejected this scenario on Wednesday.
Mr. Lacombe affirmed that the government has the role of protecting heritage, which has been the case since 1966 for this building in Old Quebec, built in the 19e century.
“It is not the role of the government to acquire these residences. It is the government’s role to protect them when there is sufficient heritage value. In this case, it is obvious, it is protected both inside and out, but it is not at all my intention to make acquisitions. »
The duty revealed on Monday that the owner of the residence located in Old Quebec, businessman Louis Garneau, has put the building he bought 25 years ago up for sale. In an interview, Mr. Garneau expressed the wish that the government or the City of Quebec buy it.
The Ministry of Culture was notified on May 5 by Mr. Garneau that he was selling the building built in 1864, where the first historian of French Canada resided during the last two years of his life.
“I saw the e-mail he sent us and he is actually offering to buy it, but it is not the role of the government to acquire these residences,” said Mr. Lacombe.
The Minister is confident that with the conditions in effect, the heritage character of the building will be preserved.
“We have a lot of great Quebecers, but if we start buying all these buildings as a state, we will end up with major issues. And heritage is a shared responsibility. I think there will be a buyer and he will have to take care of it. »
Mr. Lacombe said that the three-storey house is too small to accommodate a Blue Space, these museums deployed by the government in the regions of Quebec.
The Cultural Heritage Act imposes on the owner the obligation to obtain authorization from the Minister prior to any work aimed at the exterior or interior of the building or its land, said Mr. Lacombe’s office.
“This provision was reminded to the owner, said his spokesperson, Laurence Gillot. And the resulting obligation will also fall on any new owner. »
Open letter
At the initiative of the Société historique de Québec (SHQ), a little over 100 people active mainly in the history and heritage sectors signed an open letter this week demanding that the Government of Quebec or the City of Quebec buy the house rented by Mr. Garneau in 1865 and 1866.
“We therefore invite them to acquire the premises and turn it into a museum or to ensure that whoever buys the place preserves its interior and gives access to it to as many people as possible”, they write. .
In addition to the president of the SHQ, Alex Tremblay Lamarche, the historian and biographer of François-Xavier Garneau, Patrice Groulx, and the historian and vice-president of the Lionel-Groulx Foundation, Éric Bédard, are among the 104 signatories of the open letter.
They point out that the house has undergone very few transformations. Its successive owners took great care to keep the pieces of furniture they had inherited when they took possession of the premises and to complete the decor so that it reflects the time of François-Xavier Garneau and gives a wink. look at Cardinal Maurice Roy who was born within its walls.
In 1995, the sale of the house had sparked debate because of its heritage value. Originally from Quebec, businessman Louis Garneau bought it three years later, in 1998.
In addition to his invitation to public authorities, Mr. Garneau also challenged his friend Pierre Karl Péladeau, controlling shareholder of the conglomerate Quebecor, because of his sensitivity to Quebec nationalism, which the work of the historian has nurtured. .