A Beautiful Red Chair Steels the Show at the City Council
The elected officials of Saint-Lazare received the first Generations’ Chair of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
During its last meeting, Saint-Lazare City Council received an extraordinary visit: under the coordination of visual artist Madeleine Turgeon, a group of seven (7) students from the city's Francophone and Anglophone communities came to present a collective work with an essential message:
“I worry about the future of the planet”, the young Kaylia used these heavily symbolic words right from the start of the presentation. “This little school chair represents the collective work of several children who collaborated with me from Birchwood and Auclair schools. It reminds you that the decisions you make will have an impact on future generations,” she said with passion and conviction.
This conviction can easily be read in the creation of the children itself: a small red chair decorated with layers of brightly colored tree leaves leaning towards the sky, and having a pretty red cushion on the seat. If we lift the cushion, we can read "Keep us in mind" (Pensez à nous). The message has been heard: the City Council of Saint-Lazare will keep a visible place for the small chair during each of its meetings.
“I really want to thank you, the young people who are here today, and all those who worked on this beautiful project. I can tell you that the Council here is very conscious of the decisions we are making and the impact it is already having on the citizens of Saint-Lazare and the future generations (...) It is important for you, but it's important for us too,” said Mayor Geneviève Lachance, visibly touched by the initiative. These words found a warm echo among her colleagues and the citizens present in the room on the evening of February 14.
This great initiative is carried by the collective Mères au front – Mothers Step In, represented that evening by Martine Chenel-Gauthier, a resident of Saint-Lazare. The project of a chair, present on a permanent basis during city councils, has snowballed: from Quebec City to Saint-Lazare today. A few other municipalities of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges should deliver their achievements in the coming weeks. These chairs, always collective creations of elementary school children, are intended to be their voice: a way of reminding elected officials of their duties and commitments towards a healthy and green future.
Watch the video of the creation process of the chair.
Read the press release here.