Controversy at Quebec Book Fair | Denise Bombardier defended her words

Despite her dissatisfaction with her participation as an interviewer for Indigenous writers at Salon International du Livre de Quebec (Silque), Denise Bombardier still meets with writers Michelle Jean and Naomi Fontaine. In the case of Josephine Bacon, she declined the invitation.

Andre Duchesne
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The same m^{To me} Bombardier and Silk Communications Director Johanne Mongou confirmed The Press, Friday afternoon.

“I’ll be an interviewer and a writer,” he said^{To me} Bombardier, joined The Press. I interviewed about all the writers in their late twenties^E Century, margarite yoursenor, simenon, name them. And Quebec, Anne Hebert, Michelle Tremble, and others. So I, if an author does not want to interview me, I will not delay. ”

“In the beginning, Om^{To me} Bombardier himself took the initiative, saying he was unwilling to start another discussion on the matter^{To me} Mongou. As Michelle Jean and Naomi Fontaine say they want to interview her, it happens. Josephine Bacon is interviewed by Claudia Larochel. ”

Deadly and anti-scientific

The inconvenience expressed by his meeting with the native writers was Mr..^{To me} Bombardier signed The Journal of Montreal In 2015. She said indigenous culture was “deadly” and “anti-scientific.”

In an interview with the newspaper Destiny Earlier this week, Josephine Bacon declined to be interviewed by Denise Bombardier. “I’m not interested in replying in advance to someone who doesn’t like me,” she said.

Author Louis-Carl Picard-Seoi from Wendek strongly condemns the existence of the authorA life without fear and without regret. ” We all know M’s lack of sensitivity^{To me} Bombardier in its public seats, on tickets Journal of Montreal And in his books, says Mr. Picard-Sioi Destiny. Whenever she solves the problem of the aborigines, she must do so in a contemptuous, verbal way and without any sensitivity to our culture and our reality. ”

In the interview The Press, M.^{To me} Bombardier returned to this column to clarify the context. I wrote a paper because an aboriginal couple from Ontario had a very young girl with cancer. Doctors said she would be given chemotherapy and the cure was 100% guaranteed. Parents say no to belief in traditional medicine. And the little girl is dead. I wrote that it didn’t really make sense, that it was a deadly culture, that let our children die. ”

At that time, this opinion shook the indigenous community severely. Author Natasha Kanape has a frontal exchange with Fontaine M^{To me} Bomber on this topic. In the process, she co-authored a book with Denny Ellis Bechard Cui, I salute you: Conversation about racism.

Believing that no one can say she is against the locals, mr.^{To me} Bombardier also referred us to its crony Mrs. Bombardier also referred us to her cronyM^{To me} Bombardier also referred us to its column We are white people, Published February 2nd Le Journal de Montreal, There she denies Indian law. “In my opinion, aboriginal people are the only community in Canada that can be said to be a victim of systemic racism,” she said.

At SILQ, Johanne Mongou emphasized the importance of salon spaces over primitive writers. “There is no evil will in the show and what is happening right now is not in anyone’s interest,” she says. This year, we have only 30 authors, five of them First Nations. Not only are we sensitive to their cause, they have crazy talents. Their presence over the years has been part of the show program. ”

Digital … until further notice

Additionally, and until further notice, the 2021 edition of Silk will be available in digital version with recordings made from the Quebec City Convention Center.

Om^{To me} One of the guest interviewers was Bombardier: Claudia LaRochel, Kristin Browlet, Mary Laberge, Dominic Lemieux, Giselle Gallichan.

The show’s guest list includes Ken Folet, Margaret Atwood, Kim Thai, Zachary Richard and Eric-Emmanuel Schmidt. Interviews will be summarized, edited and posted on Viméo the next day.

With the comfort measures in the wake of the epidemic announced over the past few days, there is a chance that some part of Silky will happen in the presence of a limited audience. This issue will also be resolved in the coming days, mr.^{To me} Mongou.