SuperFrancoFête organizers regret that the Canadian government is still financially absent from the event promoting the French language that will be broadcast worldwide.
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Sylvain Barnett Bedard, Head of SISMYK, Music Division at ComediHa! The organizers of the event, took drastic measures this Saturday, sending a letter to the Minister in charge of the Canadian Economic Development Agency for the Quebec Regions, Pascal Saint Ong, to denounce the situation.
“We believe it is important to highlight the Francophonie regularly, especially in these times when the French language needs the greatest influence,” said the letter, which was also sent to four ministers from the Canadian Liberal Party.
Out of a total budget of $3 million, $500,000 in financial assistance has been requested from the federal government. “In our financial group, the only public player that does not exist is the Canadian government,” Mr. Parent-Bédard laments.
long steps
The organizers met about two dozen Canadian Heritage stakeholders and the event was not eligible for all of these programmes. Sylvain Barent Bedard also personally met Minister Pablo Rodriguez who was looking for a replacement, but with the same negative result.
“Canada’s economic development is our last hope,” said the SISMYK President.
While statistics released this week show a clear decline in French, Julie Vignola, a member of Parliament for the Québecco bloc for Beauport-Limoilou, dares to hope that the actions of promoters will push the file forward.
“I do not understand why a government that claims to be ready to ensure the vitality of the French language is closing the doors to a project like SuperFrancoFête.”
Especially since no representative of the federal government attended the press conference to launch the event on August 10.
mad monster
Sylvain Barent-Bedard notes that with or without federal funding, the SuperFrancoFête scheduled for August 31 in the Agora de Québec will indeed take place.
The event, which is meant to be a nod to the grand celebration that took place in Quebec City in 1974, is going through a frenzy as 50,000 ticket requests have been made for the 5,000 free places available.
The show, which will feature about thirty artists, including Zachary Richard, Patrick Bruel, Louis-Jean Cormier and Robert Charlebois, will be seen in more than 200 countries and translated into 15 languages.
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