Since we will be celebrating our national holiday in a few days, I wanted to return to a text that saddened me.
Louise Harel, outgoing president of the Quebec National Day Committee in Montreal, launched a cry from the heart in an open letter published in recent days.
After being involved for eight years as a volunteer, she passed the torch, but felt the urgency to make us aware of the sad fate, the financial precariousness of the National Day of Quebec in Montreal and its legendary parade, the first of which was civic took place on June 24, 1843!
A budget at 50% of the target
The observation is clear, the budget fluctuates according to the wishes of Ministers of Culture and governments and is clearly insufficient, and has been for far too long.
The idea is not to target a minister or a government and it must be recognized that Minister Lacombe improved the budget this year. However, the budget is still 50% below what an event of this scale should benefit from.
Old-fashioned floats due to lack of budget
Indeed, looking at certain allegorical floats we wonder if they were not made at the time of the Daughters of Caleb and patched up in the Dupplesist era.
At a time when we see nations exalting their national pride during Euro football, shouldn’t we allow ourselves once a year to celebrate in a big way? What the National Day Committee manages to accomplish each year with scraps of budget is incredible.
While the latest statistics showed that barely 60% of Montrealers use French in public spaces, it is all the more important to come together, to publicize and celebrate the beauty of Quebec originality and the French language. To celebrate a unique nation in the world: Quebec.
The parade and the great free show allow many new Quebecers who have come to join their destiny with ours to learn the history of their new welcome land.
Let’s be proud of it and give these celebrations the means to amaze us and above all, to create this feeling of pride and belonging that all nations feel!
Happy Midsummer! Happy National day!
