In 1934, Parks Canada erected a large granite cross in Gaspé to mark the 400th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s landing in, or near, the town site of present-day Gaspé. Historians are divided on the exact location.
Cartier had claimed the land (and planted a cross) for the very Christian King of France, François Ier. The historical site is across the parking lot from the Cathedral (a contemporary wood structure) in a tiny park.Though there is a local museum with a permanent exhibit featuring Cartier’s voyages, the Parks Canada site is not prominently featured in Gaspé. There are no signs announcing it. A visitor needs a guide book or a local source to find out why Gaspé is considered to be the cradle of Canada.
Not far from Gaspé is a magnificent national park on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Forillon Park was opened in 1977 by Pierre Trudeau. Today the modest building where Parks Canada guides help visitors is in need of a facelift.
Employees of Parks Canada across the country went out on strike the day after we visited Parc Forillon. They were not thought to be worth three per cent a year in salary increases.Instead of investing in historical sites, and refurbishing national parks, the federal government has been neglecting these assets where Canada’s most appealing features are on display: wilderness and scenic beauty, made accessible to the public through campgrounds, trails, and observation posts, where our history comes to life. The enduring value of public investment is seemingly forgotten; our public service work force penalized for providing services welcomed by all.
Further down the peninsula, another 110 kilometres on highway 132 east is Chandler. A large billboard outside the town carries this message in French: Chandler welcomes investors, but to those who want to demolish we say bye, bye.
The Gaspesia paper company closed its mill this past February. It was in the process of converting to fine paper from newsprint. Reportedly, the mill once supplied the New York Times, which brings to mind what the great political economist and communications theorist, Harold Innis of the University of Toronto said about Canada’s role in the American empire. We supplied the raw material for the newspaper the American ruling class used to communicate with each other, and the rest of the world.
Huge cost over-runs caused the investors to get cold feet. The provincial government has an investigation underway to discover what went wrong. The receiver has until the Fall to find a new owner willing to carry on. The company was a joint venture of Tembec (25 per cent), the Quebec government investment bank SGF-Rexfor (25 per cent), and the Quebec Labour Federation solidarity fund (50 per cent). The investors did not want to convert their loans into equity. By taking more stock in the company, they would have been betting on the success of the region.
The Gaspé is the size of Belgium, with a population of about 100,000. It subsists on tourism and small scale services. The fishery is in trouble and the forestry industry is no better. The unemployment rate has routinely been 30 per cent, or more, for years. So-called employment insurance fails to recognize that, as Lucille Leblanc of the Stanley House Inn in New Richmond put it, it is the work that is seasonal, not the workers. Both the Quebec and Canadian governments have pretty well written off the region.
The European Union has a major public bank which makes investments in depressed areas or low income regions. The European Investment Bank issues money market instruments, and uses the proceeds to do lending where money is short. In effect it takes surplus cash from rich areas, and converts it into long term investment where it is needed. It takes no profits on it own lending.
Canada cries out for such a bank. The Gaspé is just one of many areas that could use some patient money. The big chartered banks make out like bandits, reporting profits in the billions while lending to Wal-Mart, the Gap, and soon Target, or franchise operations like McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, organizations that have big marketing and advertising budgets behind them.
Canada’s big banks are uninterested in poor and neglected areas as such. However, if allowed to continue directing economic development in Canada they are certain to create more urban wasteland, and bring more cultural desolation to our lives.
This year the banks are going to push their campaign to force the government to allow further concentration of power through mergers. While shedding some light on their foul practices is a worthy objective of opposition groups, it also makes sense to talk about what a public bank could be doing.
Maybe we could call it the Cartier Bank, and set up a branch in Gaspé, within sight of the tall granite cross.
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