Bienvenue à Québec ~ A David Raetsen Production

Recently we traveled to Quebec City for a little vacation and to Montreal for our stag party and Divers/Cité. This is the video from the Quebec City portion of the trip. We had planned to go to St. Anne Canyon, but it is 40km outside of the city and unfortunately there was no convenient public transportation.

Rooftops in the old city of Quebec. 

Quebec City is a designated UNESO World Heritage Site

There is tremendous history in old Quebec. It is really a must see in Canada. Of course there are also the street performers and the massive nightly multi-media Quebec City history show projected onto 81 grain silos. I'd love to go back sometime and stay at the famous Chateau Frontenac but there are many small boutique hotels as well as large chains to choose from, depending on your preference.  We stayed at the Hotel Marie Rollet in the old city. It was inexpensive, quaint and close to everything. I also recommend traveling by train. It is relaxing, stress-free and the views are really quite pretty.

Clement defends decision not to fund gay arts fest

Industry Minister Tony Clement says his government had to consider "regional fairness" when doling out stimulus money to big tourism events – and that's why a gay arts festival in Montreal didn't make the cut.

The organizers of Montreal's Divers-Cite festival, which features gay and lesbian performers from around the world, said they were shocked to find out this week that their application for funding under the new program had been rejected.

They had been told by bureaucrats they had met all the rigorous criteria for their $155,000 bid – a fact not disputed by the government.

Director Suzanne Girard had initially scoffed at suggestions that ideology might be at play in handing out grants, but now says she suspects politics were involved.

After some Conservative caucus members complained last month that Toronto's Pride Week had received $400,000, junior tourism minister Diane Ablonczy lost responsibility for the file. Read the full story at The Star.com

This posting is a follow up to the recent post regarding the demotion of Diane Ablonczy after she gave 400K to Pride Toronto.

Tories reject funding for Montreal gay festival

A gay and lesbian arts festival that was told it met all government criteria under a new tourism stimulus program learned Tuesday it was rejected for funding.

The news arrived at Montreal's Divers-Cite a few weeks after tension swept the Conservative caucus over funding for Toronto's Pride week, and just days before the beginning of their event.

The directors of Divers-Cite had actually sprung to the defence of Stephen Harper's government earlier this month, telling The Canadian Press that the Conservatives had never treated them differently. Some in the gay community attacked them for their comments.

They had submitted a bid under the new Marquee Tourism Events Program for $155,000 to add performers and promotion to this year's $2-million event. Full Story at CTV.

I can't say I'm surprised.

Here is the link to the earlier post about the Toronto Pride funding.