Published at 1:23 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
The national ceremony for Karl Tremblay was touching, moving and successful. There was laughter, poems and songs, both melancholic and full of spirit, like the music of the Cowboys Fringants.
But in retrospect, can you allow me to express a reservation about this major event that touched the hearts of Quebecers?
Among the 15,000 guests who were able to follow the show live, a large number were missing: the journalists.
I don’t want to complain on behalf of “industry”, no corporatism in this text. Rather, I would like to highlight an incongruence for which I know of no precedent, so that we can think about it for the future, for other events of a national nature that we will organize.
When Karl Tremblay died, all of Quebec cried. And Prime Minister Legault immediately suggested a nationwide funeral for the family because he said he sensed “the great request of many Quebecers to pay a final respect to Karl.”
Of course, the family had the choice to say yes or decline to organize a private ceremony. And given the passionate enthusiasm that followed, I completely understand why she said yes to a national funeral honors ceremony.
But hasn’t she accepted what such a collective event entails? Many people were present… and journalists witnessed the event for those who could not be present.
It was so obvious to us at La Presse that no one thought it was worth waiting in line to get tickets. After all, there has never been a “national” event from which journalists have been excluded, so there is no reason to claim to be a citizen.
And yet that’s exactly what happened. The family decided to block access to all media and instead broadcast the event on the platform that blocks media: Facebook. Ouch.
However, this was a ceremony in which all citizens were supposed to pay their respects to the deceased. An event organized by the Government of Quebec Protocol. Everything at the Bell Center to show openness to as many people as possible… but no media, so that the event is “simple” and “a spirit of contemplation” is maintained.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Thousands of people attended the tribute to the Cowboys Fringants singer.
When I think back to Guy Lafleur’s funeral, I don’t really see how the media in attendance damaged the dignity of that moment. But hey, beyond this dubious argument, I hope this decision raised a few eyebrows among the population. Not just among journalists.
Because if the absence of members of the press is not important to everyone, I worry about what everyone thinks about members of the press and their role.
As a reminder, your mission is to bear daily witness to history as it is written. They are the eyes and ears of the public. They are the representatives of all those who cannot be always and everywhere, i.e. everyone.
In short, their job is to report what they see, what they hear and provide the answers to questions so that everyone knows what is happening in Parliament, in the courthouse, in state-owned companies, in every district, here and on the other Side the planet happens…
But on Tuesday evening the media could not fulfill this task. They were turned back at the Bell Center gates. Noovo and LCN even had to set up their studio on the sidewalk.
But the worst thing is not to let the animators freeze outside. The aim is to prevent Quebecers who were not present from properly using the national ceremony to “pay a final respect to Charles”.
Some radio stations reported live, others not at all, others only partially. This prevented as many people as possible from accessing it.
Radio-Canada did not broadcast on television to respect “the wishes of the family.” Noovo sent a team there for his 5 and 10 p.m. appointments, but nothing in between. And LCN did what it could with Facebook’s “feed,” broadcasting a show with too many pixels, jerky images, a blinking red square in the corner of the screen, and several strong moments spoiled by still images…
We have experienced a more dignified moment of contemplation, shall we say.
To be clear: Strictly speaking, this is not a scandal. There is simply a precedent that should concern us at a time when we feel our culture is at risk.
If the family had chosen more privacy, everyone would have been understanding and the media would have stayed away. But opting for a national funeral and reserving it exclusively for an American platform is a rather surprising decision on the part of a group with a strong social conscience, because it contributes to making Quebec culture more difficult to share and that their space in public space is restricted.
Until now, however, national funerals have served precisely to share a moment of common grief and to say farewell together to a figure who touched us.
The day Quebec decides that everything it experiences collectively must go through meta and not through its local media, I predict it won’t just be the latter that will make it happen. Also our culture.