President of PQ’s republic will need an official residence

Peter Black On my bucket list: To take in the panoramic view of Quebec City from the unique and spectacular vantage point of the premier’s official residence. This is not... L’article President of PQ’s republic will need an official residence est apparu en premier sur Sherbrooke Record .

Peter Black On my bucket list: To take in the panoramic view of Quebec City from the unique and spectacular vantage point of the premier’s official residence. This is not likely to happen unless Christine Fréchette, or whoever is premier of Quebec in the foreseeable future, invites your scribe for tea (or something stronger) in her/his 16th-storey penthouse in the Price Building (we’ll use the English name, just because), a majestic Art Deco skyscraper in Old Quebec, a smaller scale version of Manhattan’s Empire State Building. The apartment, comprising two floors, and a reception space on the 14th level, became the premier’s official lodgings in 2001, under the direction of then-premier Bernard Landry, a fellow who took to heart symbols of Quebec independence.

Why not lord over the national capital from the perch of a tower built by the English – especially since it was now owned by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The Price Building was supposed to be a statement of power and prosperity from the family company with Welsh roots that brought power (electricity) and prosperity (jobs) to various regions of Quebec with their lumber and pulp and paper operations. Alas, the building opened in the 1930s just as the Great Depression beset and ultimately broke the company.

Despite the building’s height and opulence, though, the premier’s apartment itself is rather small and unfit for any future premier with a family. Landry was a widower, Jean Charest, father of three, rarely used it, Pauline Marois and Philippe Couillard, with grown families, crashed there when in town, and François Legault, also an empty-nester, made it his home in the capital. The choice of the Price Building followed the fiasco of the “Elysette,” the mansion on (federally owned)

Avenue des Braves premier Jacques Parizeau gleefully occupied for several years, hosting regular social evenings on Thursdays. The “Elysette” was a mocking