29 avril 2021
In early April, the Ottawa office team completed a long-term project: the organization of a mini-exhibition to showcase Québec history. Once the pandemic ends, people visiting the office will be able to discover the various facets of the exhibition as soon as they arrive at the reception desk.
As mentioned by Mario Lavoie, head of mission, “considering the wealth of our history, the opening of our economy to the world and the innovation displayed by our people, the exhibition aims to make visitors aware of key moments in Québec’s history and pique their interest, encouraging them to find out more about Québec.”
The exhibition has been made possible thanks to assistance received from the Ordre national du Québec, the historical collection at Hydro-Québec, the Library of the National Assembly, Pointe-à-Callière – Montréal Archaeology and History Complex, and the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie. It offers an opportunity to explore six themes using artefacts, reproductions and historical information sheets.
To introduce visitors to the Ottawa office itself, one of the themes surveys Québec’s presence in Ottawa over more than a century. It is illustrated by a sign-in book created for the official opening of the Ottawa office in 1984.
Two Québec symbols are also featured, the Fleurdelisé and Hydro-Québec. The exhibition includes a picture of an employee raising the Québec flag over the central tower of the Parliament Building in Québec City, shortly after the symbolic design was approved on January 21, 1948. For Hydro-Québec, two artefacts illustrate the theme, including the badge worn on the uniforms of the utility’s employees until 1965.
Next, the exhibition features a display on an event that marked Québec’s history: the Great Peace of Montréal (1701). It features a reproduction of an excerpt from the manuscript copy of the peace treaty signed by the Governor of New France, Louis-Hector de Callière, and the chiefs of 39 Indigenous nations.
The two last themes are the Ordre national du Québec and Québec’s international outreach through a network of 33 offices in 18 different countries. Thanks to a loan from the Ordre national du Québec, the Ottawa office is able to present the medal awarded in 2013 to grand officer Robert Després (1924-2016), whose career established a bridge between the public administration and the business world.
To allow as many visitors as possible to enjoy the temporary exhibition, the Ottawa office intends to leave it in place until at least the end of 2022.
In the meantime, you can follow the Ottawa office on its various social media platforms, where the six themes of the exhibition will be featured over the coming weeks.
