Is offering free leisure activities to its population part of the State’s missions, especially when we think that our governments have difficulty supporting their fundamental missions (health, education, public transport, etc.)? I am submitting to the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, three questions that could help him and his government decide what to support in leisure activities. These three questions are: 1. Does the project have educational value? Does it have heritage value? Does it contribute to the vitality of Quebec culture?
To the first question, we can affirm without being mistaken that an organization like the Montreal Symphony Orchestra or the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec participates in public education, because they present works of the heritage of humanity which enrich the general culture of those who see or hear them. In the same way, theater authors make spectators think about real social issues, thus participating in their education.
We can answer the second question in a similar way. The main mission of museums is to protect works of the past. Performing arts companies that play classics also protect these works, because if a symphonic piece or a Molière are not performed, they die in oblivion.
Finally, events that present artists of Quebec song, or producers who shoot Quebec films, play a powerful role in keeping our culture alive. These are the reasons why citizens contribute through their taxes to support these sectors.
What about events that are purely recreational? Is it the state’s mission to support professional sports teams that pay 20-year-olds $50, $100, or $150 million in salaries for a 10- or 15-year career? Is it the role of the State to support organizations that present foreign popular artists? In my opinion, it is not.
You will tell me: there are economic benefits. I will tell you that a hockey or baseball team whose players are mostly foreigners returns home with hundreds of millions in salary and that this impoverishes the province of Quebec. If you calculate the net economic benefits rather than the gross, you will see that these sporting activities are harmful to Quebec. Just like the great artists of popular song who return to their country with hundreds of millions in fees.
Taylor Swift in Toronto has been siphoning off Ontario and Canada of hundreds of millions of dollars that she brought back to the United States. So yes, Mr. Girard, your government’s decision regarding the Kings is ill-founded, just like the decision to pay, at the time, 400 million in public funds for the Videotron Center with the prospect of welcoming a team of the NHL which would siphon money from Quebecers to send it to the players’ countries of residence, and which would be offered to billionaires who play governments against each other. No offense to the former mayor of Quebec Régis Labeaume, the Videotron Center is not comparable to the Maison symphonique. One only offers leisure while the other contributes to education and the protection of the great works of humanity.