There were many positive reactions to Quebec’s presence as guest of honor at the last Festival du livre de Paris. Given the quality and quantity of the authors and publishers – I was running out of eyes and ears. What’s more, the space reserved for Quebec offered a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower.

To the organization of the Québec Édition team – bravo! There were many exchanges between delegates, a large number of visitors at the conferences, not to mention the much-appreciated summer weather for the duration of the event. It’s all true, I can tell you. For my first participation in this festival, I was delighted to take part and to speak at a talk organized by the CFC in the company of ANEL.

However, my happiness was short-lived, as a little over 24 hours after getting off the plane, I landed with the presentation of the latest federal budget, where my hopes were dashed for good. I had hoped that the government would commit to reforming the Copyright Act. I’ll spare you the first words I uttered, because the written word remains…

My thoughts resounded to the sound of the pinball machines flippers, but without a big batch of answers. The whole book community had been hard at work over the last few months, and it felt like this could be the one. As a sign of fate, I had even met the Quebec lieutenant of the Liberal party the night I left for Paris.
 
Still, I lost my bet.  

Nothing to celebrate a 100th anniversary of copyright law!

– Christian Laforce, General Manager