I read an article on the CBC website soon a Friday afternoon. Bruno Marchand, the new mayor of Quebec City (in office just since last November), said he wouldn’t let protestors interfere with citizen’s ability to live their lives and told visitors to come to the Carnaval de Quebec, an annual winter festival. I heeded his call and went Saturday morning.
Little did I know that I would bump into him at the Parc de la Francophonie, right behind the Coureur de Bois bar stand and in front of the Rigolon Révolution dance stage – I don’t know what’s more Quebec than that. Initially, I didn’t know that it was him, there was just a swarm of TV cameras pointed at him. I thought he looked familiar from the article I read the day before but couldn’t be sure until I asked another passerby.
I approached Bruno after he was done with the press gaggle. I told him that he was the reason I was there, he said it was a cool story, and we took a couple of photos together. Who would’ve thought that my weekend would come full circle just before I had to go back to class in person?
