Major Public Infrastructure Projects: Where Is Culture in All This?

Since 2007, the Government of Quebec has adopted a comprehensive outlook in terms of maintaining and restoring its existing infrastructures, as well as new constructions. In 2018, it launched the Quebec Infrastructure Plan 2018-2028 (QIP), which provides for investments of more than $100 billions over 10 years across 14 major business sectors, in addition to significant investments in infrastructures by the Government of Canada, municipalities and other public bodies and the private sector.

The citizens of the greater Montreal region, of which I am part, already understand that, for all the business sectors affected by the QIP, about 50% of the investments are dedicated to relating to road network, transportation and health and social services sectors. One only needs to think of the construction site of Turcot interchange, the new CHUM and the Glen Site of the MUHC in Montreal.

Of course, we should be delighted with these investments in critical and essential sectors, especially as some of these were urgent and needed to be prioritised. The QIP is intended to be as complete and coherent investment plan as possible to protect our growth and quality of life in a sustainable manner. It also provides for major investments in infrastructures across all other key sectors to ensure the population of Quebec have access not only to education, but also to early childhood centres as well as sports and community activities, among others.

Over time, the maintenance, renovations, transformations and new constructions currently underway will allow us to circulate more fluidly and have better access to hospitals, schools and universities. But what else is missing from this list to help a society thrive?

What do we do after a long day of work upon meeting up with family and friends? I would say that we entertain ourselves.

Our cultural infrastructures support our ongoing need to enrich and enhance our daily lives. These cultural infrastructures enable us to access art in all its forms, through museums, libraries, theatres and public spaces where cultural events and festivals in which we take part are held.

The Redevelopment of Montreal's Quartier Des Spectacles

The QIP provides for investments in cultural infrastructures in the amount of $1.578 billion, or 1.6% of the total investments forecast in the QIP, representing a 26% increase since the QIP was updated in 2018. The construction and development of Le Diamant theatre in Quebec City, which opened last August, is a recent example of a major cultural project delivered pursuant to the QIP.

Another recent example of a cultural infrastructure project, carried out at the Government of Quebec's initiative and its public and private sector partners under the former Quebec plan, is the redevelopment of part of the Îlot Balmoral, located in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal. Begun in 2008, these investments have made it possible, over time, to transform two obsolete buildings owned by the Société Québécoise des Infrastructures:

• The inauguration in 2009 of the Maison du Festival de Jazz (now renamed La Maison du Festival Rio Tinto), to host various festivals and cultural events; and,
• The more recent inauguration, in September 2017, of the Wilder Espace Danse Building, which has given the dance community a foothold in Montreal's Quartier des Spectacles and enabled this art form to be showcased on the Place des Festivals. This brought together four leading dance organisations in Montreal under one roof - Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, L’Agora de la danse, Tangente and the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal - while also hosting the offices of the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications, and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

These two buildings can now enjoy the new Place des Festivals, which was redeveloped as part of the investments made in 2009. These are some examples of real cases for which several objectives have been met in order to enrich the cultural aspects that the Quartier des Spectacles has to offer, to turn obsolete government buildings into high-quality buildings while preserving their heritage, and to house cultural organisations and government officials working in the cultural sphere in Quebec.

The Added Value of Competent Legal Counsel in a Cultural Infrastructure Project

These infrastructure plans are the result of the government's vision and contain various policies and guidelines to ensure their proper management and success. Beyond the similar issues prevalent in real estate development projects in urban areas, it is essential for all legal advisors to understand this vision, these policies and directives and the internal operations of the various corporations and departments involved in the Government of Quebec, as I was required to do when accompanying the Société Québécoise des Infrastructures in the context of this redevelopment.

Comprehend the policies and guidelines in place

In particular, for infrastructure projects that qualify as major projects (when the estimated total cost exceeds a certain amount), the current policies and guidelines include all the steps that must be followed over several years. From the presentation of a preliminary project sheet to the Council of Ministers at the end of the project, all phases are planned to ensure rigorous management and supervision, such as that of the Wilder Espace Danse Building. The legal advisor must be familiar with these policies and guidelines, and will be called upon to assist those involved at each stage of the study, planning and implementation of the project in accordance with the outlined needs and established requirements.

Understand the overview and broad objectives

When several phases are planned, the legal advisor must also have an overview of the area to be redeveloped, and more specifically an overview of the proposed development of the site. This overall vision will allow timely and thoughtful decisions to be made for the first phase and thus allow the subsequent phases to be carried out effectively. This is particularly important in high-density urban areas such as the Quartier des Spectacles, where the areas and public domain required reconfiguration. For example, when the first building was transferred in 2008 with a view to becoming La Maison du Festival du Jazz, certain decisions were made regarding access to public services and their supply in response to the implementation of the new Place des Festivals and the Wilder Espace Danse Building. The same approach was also taken during the reconfiguration of the new Place des Festivals by transferring some land and acquiring other land in order to redefine the public domain (streets, sidewalks) and meeting the needs of the final phase of the renovation and expansion of the Wilder Espace Danse Building. When confronted with project policies and directives, the legal advisor is also called upon to ensure that the financial conditions for carrying out the project are met and that cultural organisations will remain in the new building over the long term. For these purposes, the legal advisor must, among other things, be fully versed in banking law and municipal taxation.

Dealing with the various participants in the project

Another important aspect of cultural infrastructure projects is the presence of a number of private partners, including not-for-profit corporations working in various fields of the cultural sector. Unlike projects in other business sectors, such as the road network system or transportation, where private partners are usually technically advanced commercial companies, which are used to complex contractual relationships, cultural companies quickly feel overwhelmed if they cannot rely on good collaboration between project stakeholders and on efforts to popularise both the process and the complex contracts that will be executed.

Being a coordinator

The primary qualities required by a legal advisor who is called upon to assist the government in complex cultural projects are as follows: to be a good coordinator and to understand the dynamics and positions of the various public and private partners involved in a complex and multifactorial legal context.

Like all of you, I consider myself fortunate to have access to these cultural infrastructures, which are a real legacy for Montreal and for Quebec as a whole. Every day I am proud to see the richness of our culture and of those involved, not to mention that of our population and the many tourists who visit. As a citizen of Montreal, I would say, patience, patience, patience and patience, because I am sure that all these projects will eventually transform Québec into one of the most pleasant places in the world.