Like other Quebec cities, Trois-Rivières adopted its 2024 budget last December. The increase in the tax bill by 3.95% and the addition of a “swimming pool tax” of $50 then attracted public attention.
But in recent days, another aspect of the budget has been the talk of the town: the part reserved for culture and leisure is the largest of the envelope. In fact, nearly 17% of the budget is devoted to this sector, something absolutely unique among Quebec cities of similar size.
Of the budget of 362 million dollars, nearly 62 million goes to culture and leisure in this municipality of 140,000 inhabitants. This is more than the amount reserved for public security (60.7 million). This is what captures the imagination of some!
A team from Radio-Canada, in Mauricie, focused on comparing this ratio with that of other cities whose population fluctuates between 100,000 and 200,000 inhabitants. Saguenay and Lévis devote 7.9% and 10.3% of their budgets to arts, culture and recreation, respectively. Terrebonne (11%), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (13%) and Sherbrooke (14%) also do not surpass Trois-Rivières. Same thing for Shawinigan, Drummondville and Victoriaville.
We should obviously not compare apples with carrots, but the City of Montreal devotes 10.3% of its budget of 6.9 billion to culture and leisure.
This is not the first time that the leisure and culture sector has been particularly favored in Trois-Rivières. Last year, the slice of the pie representing this sector (17.7%) was preponderant.
In addition to libraries and museums, the money allocated to culture benefits two entities that cast a wide net in Trois-Rivières: the Trois-Rivières Events Corporation (11.5 million), which notably manages the Cogeco Amphitheater and the Délices d’Automne, and Culture Trois-Rivières (9.5 million), responsible for the J.-Antonio-Thompson room, the house of culture and the CEGEP theater.
You should know that the model put forward in Trois-Rivières is quite unique. By creating these two paramunicipal organizations, the City took control of its cultural industry. It invests in cultural life, but it also receives the resulting dividends.
If we deduct from the 21 million allocated to these two structures the income they bring in each year, the net cost would be more like 6.6 million, according to the City. And this ignores the economic fallout generated by these events.
I remember my visit to Trois-Rivières to attend a performance ofSymphonic harmonium at the Cogeco Amphitheater. The terraces on rue des Forges were all crowded.
The economy of Trois-Rivières has long relied on the pulp and paper industry. “At the beginning of the 2000s, after the mergers, there was a very difficult period,” explains Mikaël Morissette, spokesperson for the City. The unemployment rate rose, the value of houses was lower than elsewhere. Salaries were lower. About twelve years ago, it started again. »
Ironically, the Amphitheater project was created on the site of a former pulp and paper mill. “It’s as if we were turning the page on an old economic model, renewed by an innovative cultural project,” continues Mikaël Morissette.
At a time when primary services (snow removal from sidewalks, street maintenance) and social challenges (homelessness, housing) are part of the reality of all major cities in Quebec, the choice to invest massively in culture and in organizations that offer physical and moral well-being to citizens remains a gesture that I would describe as courageous and marginal.
However, do not believe that the vision of the administration of Mayor Jean Lamarche (absent for six months due to illness) brings happiness to all citizens. One of them recently published a letter tinged with irony in The Nouvelliste in which he underlines the excessive importance of the budget allocated to culture.
“Tell yourself that you could never find in Canada another place that focused so much on the era of carnivalesque, boredom and fun. A kind of permanent Mardi Gras without which, according to our leaders, we would not even be on the map », he wrote.
As in several other municipalities in Quebec, everything is not just a long quiet river in Trois-Rivières. For example, the project to expand the industrial park called Carrefour 40-55 arouses the ire of environmentalists and creates a major division among residents and councilors. Some assemblies were stormy.
Even artists take part in the debate. Invited to the FestiVoix de Trois-Rivières last July, the punk group Vulgaires Machins sent a clear message to spectators during their show: “Not one hectare more [le slogan des écologistes]ta****** gang,” chanted singer Guillaume Beauregard, visibly concerned by the destruction of hectares of land planned in the project.
Investing in culture also serves this purpose: welcoming artists who will warm the ears of elected officials. If only for this reason, this vision is laudable!