Some 18,000 primary and secondary students are expected at the Montreal Book Fair during the first three days of the event, November 22, 23 and 24. These dates coincide with the additional strike days recently announced by the common union front and the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE). These outings therefore risk being canceled, just like others to youth theaters.
The Montreal Book Fair has been in complete uncertainty for several days. Last Monday, the common union front, which brings together 420,000 workers in the public and parapublic sectors, including teachers, announced that it would be on strike again from November 21 to 23. The previous week, it was the FAE and the 65,000 teachers it represents who announced their intention to launch an indefinite general strike from November 23.
Will the conflict between the government and its employees be resolved before these dates? Olivier Gougeon, general director of the Montreal Book Fair, hopes so.
Nearly 70% of the students expected at the weekday Book Fair come from public schools which could cancel their attendance in the event of a strike. For the moment, the few cancellations received have been replaced by other school groups, private schools not being affected by the labor conflict.
The organization of the event is currently considering different ways so that these young people can still benefit from this very popular annual meeting. “We discuss with the schools that are going to be on strike and we suggest that they give the tickets to the children,” says Olivier Gougeon, for example, who invites parents and grandparents to take over to accompany the children to the Book Fair .
The option of offering free entry to the accompanying adult is also being considered. “We will do everything to facilitate the reception of these parents or those accompanying them,” he emphasizes.
Despite the threat of a strike, the team has decided not to modify its programming. “The only activities that would be canceled are those in collaboration with schools,” notes Olivier Gougeon.
The Book Fair is not the only one to suffer the repercussions of the strike. At the Maison Théâtre, a place entirely dedicated to young audiences, the new play 176 Pas, presented from November 15 to 25, will be affected in the event of a walkout.
Seven school performances of this puppet show, written by Fanny Britt and with music by Ariane Moffatt, are on the calendar during the week of mobilization. If the picket days do indeed take place, only two of these performances will be maintained, reveals Isabelle Boisclair, general director of the Maison Théâtre. The students who will attend will come from private establishments.
In Beloeil, L’Arrière Scène also plans to cancel a performance of the show Coucou in connection with the strike, indicates its artistic director, Jean-François Guilbault.
“Each day of strike will lead to show cancellations,” also says Jean-Philippe Joubert, general director and co-artistic director of Les Gros Becs Youth Theater in Quebec. Will we be able to move these students elsewhere during the season so that they can have a cultural experience? Nothing is less certain because our reception capacity over a season is limited. »
Beyond the strike days, the repercussions of teachers’ pressure tactics have been felt since the start of the year in the youth cultural sector. The members of the FAE were notably instructed not to take care of the organization of cultural outings if it was not included in their task.
At Théâtre Les Gros Becs, school bookings this season are only 64% of usual figures. Tickets are also down at the Maison Théâtre. “If we compare to last year at this date, we had a lot more tickets that had been purchased,” underlines Isabelle Boisclair.
“We have seen, since the start of the year, that there have been fewer outings,” confirms Sylvain Martel, president of the Regroupement des committees de parents nationaux du Québec, who finds it a shame that young people are penalized in this way. “Hopefully, once the conflict is resolved, we can catch up on these outings. »
For producers of theater for young audiences, schools are very important partners. “School performances can be up to 70% of the performances they give in a year,” illustrates Isabelle Boisclair.
Although she is “in solidarity with the demands of teachers”, she is concerned about the impact that a prolonged strike could have on artists.
Questioned on this subject, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec wants to be reassuring. “We will establish an overview of the situation over the coming weeks, which will allow us to make the appropriate decisions. Our objective will then be to do everything possible to ensure that we limit the impact of this situation on the financial health of the organizations concerned,” indicated, by email, Honorine Youmbissi, director of communications and promotion of the arts and letters.
