Metis Seen Through the Eyes of… Journalists’ Comments and Controversies

Metis has made the news many times in the last two centuries. Disasters, shipwrecks, fatal accidents, dramatic rescues and tragic fires were guaranteed to make the headlines. The occasional earthquake and sighting of a sea serpent was shared with readers across the continent. A thief in 1918 made the headlines not so much for her thievery but because of the deception that masked her true identity. The dramatic 1930 murder of Kenneth Macnider Burke also generated horrified headlines.

Colour photograph of small caliber rifle cartridges. 2 empty cartridges and 2 rifle bullets and one cartridge still loaded with its bullet. The exhibits are laid flat next to 3 brown 5 x 7 inch envelopes. The short depth of focus makes it impossible to read the writing on the envelopes.

The cartridges from the spent bullets that killed Kenneth Macnider Burke are preserved in the collection of Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec in Rimouski.

Colour photograph of the façade of a summer home in Métis-sur-Mer. In the foreground, a sculpture of a cherub carrying a birdbath on its head. The sculpture is set in the center of a flowerbed of yellow, orange, white, mauve and pink pansies. The residence is clad in burgundy-coloured cedar shingles. The 2-storey residence has a natural cedar-shingle roof and a covered veranda on the façade. 2 white Ardirondack chairs are placed side by side on the lawn.

One of the most impressive summer homes in Metis is Birchcliffe, the impressive summer residence built for a member of the Molson family to the design of architect Robert Findlay.

Journalists have a special talent to pique our curiosity and ignite a debate. In recent years the community has been the subject of articles that have sought to explain the special character of Metis and this very distinct society. Not an easy task, and one that has fostered debate and even kindled a bit of controversy.

Colour photograph of the road sign presenting the town of Les Boules.

Les Boules is the name of the town that merged with Metis to become Métis-sur-Mer in 2002.

No article came close to the stir caused in 2012 when the popular anthropologist and Radio-Canada host Serge Bouchard wrote a Québec Science column that he provocatively titled “I went to Les Boules, in the Gaspésie. Why would I stop in Les Boules, you ask?” A strong rebuttal from resident author Stéphanie Pelletier prompted Bouchard to write a second article “Pardon aux Boules”, apologizing for some of his language and explaining what had led him to use Les Boules as a symbol of the ugliness of the Quebec landscape.

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.

The shoreline in the Les Boules sector of Metis-sur-Mer in winter.

Comments by journalists illustrate their value as chroniclers of time and space. Without them, where would we be? It is always however wise to remember the adage, Caveat lector, ‘reader beware’.

The Maritime Heritage of Metis – Shipwrecks and Life on the Sea Conclusion