There were many positive reactions to Quebec鈥檚 presence as guest of honor at the last聽Festival du livre de Paris. Given the quality and quantity of the authors and publishers 鈥 I was running out of eyes and ears. What鈥檚 more, the space reserved for Quebec offered a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower.
To the organization of the聽Qu茅bec 脡dition聽team 鈥撀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鈥檚 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聽CFC聽in the company of聽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鈥檒l spare you the first words I uttered, because the written word remains鈥
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.
聽
Still, I lost my bet.聽聽
Nothing to celebrate a 100th anniversary of copyright law!
鈥 Christian Laforce, General Manager