Caroline Proulx, our dear Minister of Tourism, will not sleep well this evening.
She probably thought she was going to shine on Radio-Canada.
But instead, she found herself guilty of a monumental blunder. Without knowing it, she was going to become the clown of the weekend.
Olivier Niquet, always ready to ridicule and highlight the absurdities of politicians, did not fail to ridicule her live on Radio-Canada.
Picture the scene: Caroline Proulx, all smiles, praising the “Need for Speed” effect on the popularity of the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Yes, you read that correctly. “Need for Speed”, the car racing video game released in the 90s, which Madame Proulx happily confuses with Drive to Survivethe Netflix documentary which actually had an impact on the popularity of F1 by attracting a younger clientele.
“A few years ago, they launched Need for Speed on Netflix, as a result, at the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix, a much younger clientele, which was a clientele that did not come”she declared proudly, sure of herself.
The problem was that at that precise moment, everyone understood that the minister had just sunk in alone.
Olivier Niquet, always on hand to point out political blunders, jumped at the opportunity. He gently but firmly ridiculed her live, pointing out how this confusion between a video game and a documentary series was not only clumsy, but indicative of a blatant lack of understanding of his own case.
And we must say that we are not surprised. This is not the first time that the Minister of Tourism seems disconnected from the realities she is supposed to manage.
Whether justifying subsidies for controversial international sporting events or clumsily meddling in issues like the Presidents Cup, she has already shown that she sometimes struggles to keep up.
But that blunder with “Need for Speed”? It is a masterpiece of its kind.
This is the kind of moment where we wonder if the minister really took the time to do her research before venturing into explanations where she humiliates herself.
Confusing a video game with a documentary that revitalized interest in F1 is a bit like confusing the Stanley Cup with an episode of Occupation Double: it just doesn’t work.
And of course, this blunder did not go unnoticed on social networks. In a few hours, Internet users seized on this memorable quote, multiplying the mockery and taunts.
Video game fans had a great time, as did F1 fans, who had to wonder in which parallel universe their favorite sport was linked to “Need for Speed”.
The question that now arises: how will Caroline Proulx recover from this public humiliation? Because after being publicly corrected by Olivier Niquet and Radio-Canada, we can only hope that she takes a little more care in her next interventions.
Perhaps a quick viewing of “Drive to Survive” is in order?
In any case, this blunder will remain engraved forever and Olivier Niquet managed to transform an awkward ministerial intervention into a great radio moment.
Well done, Ms. Proulx. Next time, a quick glance at Wikipedia before speaking wouldn’t hurt!
Ouch.
And as if the monumental blunder of Need for Speed wasn’t enough, Minister Caroline Proulx’s weekend didn’t stop there.
No, that would be too simple.
It must be said that the Presidents Cup hasn’t exactly been a model of success for her either. While she proudly justified the subsidies granted to the event, monster traffic jams, shuttles stopped in the middle of the route and criticism of the management of the tourist influx transformed what was supposed to be a coup into a fiasco. logistics.
Tourists stuck in traffic for hours, furious residents of Île-Bizard who couldn’t even get home, and frustrated spectators who saw the shuttles stopped by impromptu road checks…
It was not a quiet weekend for Caroline Proulx, to say the least. On that Sunday evening, she must have wondered where it had all gone wrong.
And what about her clumsy justification for all these subsidies, where she assures us that the economic benefits will be “extraordinary”?
With endless lines and buses stopped for inspection, Montrealers have undoubtedly not seen these famous fallout.
Instead, they saw blocked roads and a city incapable of handling an event of this scale. But hey, in the official figures, all that will not appear.
The minister will always be able to say that it was a success, at least on paper.
In the end, this weekend will probably mark a turning point for Caroline Proulx. Not only did she prove that she could make spectacular communication errors, but she also demonstrated that she still had a lot to learn about managing international events.
Maybe next time, she’ll take the time to review her classics (and check the difference between a video game and a documentary) before venturing into new risky statements.
Because, honestly, this weekend, for her, it was more Need for Sleep what Drive to Survive.
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