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In Defence of Metis – Local Author Describes Her ‘Coin du Pays’

Colour photograph of the shoreline of Metis during winter. Taken from the shore of the St. Lawrence River. The right portion of the photograph shows the river at high tide. The left portion of the photograph shows the residences along the shoreline. The photograph was taken in the late afternoon. A thin layer of snow covers the roofs and the beach.

Photograph

Les Boules sector, Métis-sur-Mer, 2017

Marjelaine Sylvestre

 

From her home on the Rang 5 high above Metis, Stéphanie Pelletier has become one of the region’s most eloquent defenders. She won the Governor General’s Award for fiction for her first book of short stories, Quand les gûepes se taisent. She took on Radio-Canada columnist Serge Bouchard in 2013 with this heartfelt testimonial of her love for her coin du pays: 

…I grew up in Les Boules, Monsieur Bouchard. And I came back…I see charming homes and grounds maintained with pride by shoreline dwellers who live through each autumn with the fear of a giant tide that might flood their basement, eat at their land and might force them to leave. This great river is beautiful and romantic from the point of view of a tourist. How crazy are these residents who have their windows facing south only, forgetting this grandiose panorama to instead use the sun’s rays to warm their homes during the long winter months?  

In my village, I can see great efforts deployed to create a new dynamism and revitalize the citizens and the municipality. Following exchanges between the two schools and the opening of a new bilingual library, we are working to build bridges between the anglophone and francophone communities. And with the adoption of an architectural plan our municipality is investing time and effort to harmonize new buildings with the built heritage…Here there are many of us, each in our own way, seeking to add a bit of vitality and dynamism to this little village that we love to encourage families to move here.