National Day Show: A Suspicious Tradition?

After airing one Trois-Rivières in 2020 and Charlevoix in 2021, will national holiday TV programs return to Montreal and Quebec City next year, as has been the tradition for many years? Even if she wanted to “with all her heart,” the Minister of Culture and Communications, Natalie Roy, is unable to confirm their return in 2022.

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The minister received questions about this topic on Tuesday while studying budget allocations for culture in the National Assembly.

Due to the ban on large gatherings in effect since last spring, the Ministry of Culture and Communications has extended the budget allocated for the national holiday by $ 1.8 million for one major TV show that will be after Trois-Riviere. Captured this year in Charlevoix, on June 24th. It will be broadcast on the four main channels.

Thus, the amount awarded to celebrate the National Day rises from 5 million to 7 million dollars, without the return of traditional television programs in the capital and the capital being officially in the program.

Montreal is already concerned that the region’s single-TV show formula is permanent. On April 19, the City Council asked the government to ensure “as quickly as possible” the return of television programs in the capital, beginning in 2022, and for years to come.

It is unlikely that three TV shows will be broadcast, one in Montreal, one in Quebec City, and one in the region.

So, the two spokesmen for the opposition to Culture and Communication, Pascal Peroubi (Party Québecoa) and Christine Saint-Pierre (Liberal Party), asked Natalie Roy on Tuesday to clarify her vision for the coming years.

“There is no doubt that there are no shows in Quebec or Montreal or anywhere else,” said Natalie Roy. There are 1.8 million additional major TV shows in the region. One does not prevent the other. For the time being, she said, he will be in Charlevoix for the obvious reasons we know. And I hope with all my heart that he’s in Montreal and Quebec too. But we take it one year at a time given the current context. ”

The assistant deputy minister in charge of the Secretariat for the Promotion of Quebec Culture, Louise Chamberland, confirmed that she could not provide confirmation for 2022. “The sums are there until there are offers,” then only Natalie Roy said.

“It is worrying. We do not have transparency, we do not know the plan for the government’s game,” Christine Saint-Pierre expressed her regret.

During this exchange, there was also a question about the national holiday not being politicized, as the Minister of Culture does not wish to see the flags of political parties float over their heads during the celebrations.

The minister wants to depoliticize the party, yet Pascal Peroubi assured that he knew, behind the scenes, that the government wanted to reduce the broadcast time of Prime Minister Francois Legault’s speech from 30 seconds to one minute, during the televised broadcast.

“I am not aware of this information,” Natalie Roy defended.