(The following blog entry is an excerpt of my Master thesis. Today ''we'' are ''celebrating'' the 45th anniversary of the Montréal Métro. The exclusion of people with disabilities from the Métro must be remembered. This exclusion continues today.)
The Inauguration of Montréal Metro: Discitizenship for Disabled Montrealers
The day of the inauguration of the initial Montréal Metro network, which counted twenty-six stations[i], was a significant moment of Québec modern history. Montréal became the seventh city in America to own a subway system (Société Radio-Canada, 2001). In the context of the Quiet Revolution, the opening of the Montréal Metro on October 14, 1966 symbolized one of the first realisations accomplished by an elected government which served the needs of its citizens. Because of that, the inauguration is an important event to examine because it provides the definition of citizenship in Montréal. During the inauguration ceremony[ii], Drapeau declared:
Fifty years of patience, projects and studies. Fifty years of hope. Now it’s done. My first thought goes to us, residents of this big city. We need to mutually congratulate each other to own such an underground transport system. We deserve it. [...] With its new subway, Montréal gains one more title among the greatest world capitals[iii] (Guimont, 2007, p. 1).
One television reporter exclaimed: “Today the subway will live because there will be people in it!” (Société Radio-Canada, 1966). History that has been written and told until now presents this day as one of celebration that brings all Montréal citizens together excited by the new freedom of moving provided by the Metro (Clairoux, 2001; Société Radio-Canada, 1966). Clairoux (2001) writes that: “after the ceremony, the system is invaded by dozens of thousands Montrealers who discovered with wonder that their subway is even more beautiful and modern than they had imagined”[iv] (p. 38).
Us. Residents. We Deserve It. People. Montrealers. Beautiful. Modern. Us? Who is ‘us’? Who is the Montrealer proud of their new subway? (Myself, January 18, 2010)
At the first glance, this ‘us’ seems to describe all human beings living on the Montréal island. However, this ‘us’ as it has been formulated during the inauguration of the Montréal Metro, contributes to the construction and marginalization of the disabled body – the body that cannot use stairs. A total erasure of this body was needed in order to assert that the new subway could be ridden by everyone- by ‘us’. The inauguration of the Metro – understood as being a public space- had to tie the notion of being a Montrealer to the ability of riding the subway. The status of citizen was granted upon the performance of a specific ability judged by people in power as being a “normal” ability. It is important to note that all the people to whom the existence of the Montréal Metro is attributed are all white able-bodied men[v]. Vujakovic and Matthews (1994) assert that “decisional makers are likely to infuse their work with their own values and meanings” (p.359). The inauguration of the Montréal Metro symbolizes the public consecration of the ability to use stairs as an essential ability. Consequently, the lack of this ability became sufficient to justify exclusion. Oliver (1996) defines “walkism” as the phenomenon that is “materialised in spatial structures that favour walkers over non-walkers” (as cited in Freund, 2001, p.695). The Montréal Metro silently became a space celebrating walkism; it became a walking-ableist space from which some people were excluded without shame. I define walkism as the normative expectation that someone can walk and climb stairs. Favoured abilities which are at the heart of ableism according to Wolbring (2008a) are not only seen as being preferable, but they are also seen as being essential. The hierarchy of abilities determines who will get to be fully recognized as a human being and who will not (Campbell, 2008a, p.153). The abilities to walk and use stairs are well-cherished and valued in the hierarchy of abilities. Devlin and Pothier (2006) suggest that “because many persons with disabilities are denied formal and/or substantive citizenship, they are assigned to the status of “dis-citizens”, a form of citizenship minus, a disabling citizenship” (p.2). We need to mutually congratulate each other to own such an underground transport system. We deserve it. Drapeau’s “we” represents the walking-ableist discourse that will write and tell the history of the Montréal Metro – a discourse that will, for the next decades, ignore and marginalize the exclusion of dis-citizens- a category in which people whose mobility needs cannot be accommodated by stairs clearly belong.
The First Years of the Montréal Metro: The Construction of a New City Life
The first years of operation for the Montréal Metro were characterized by a wind of change and optimism blowing on Québec society. From April 28 to October 27, 1967, Montréal welcomed the world during the Expo67 which is still one of the most significant events that happened in the Québec metropolis[vi]. The Expo67 theme – Man and His World- celebrated fraternity between nations. Jean (2007) describes Québec during Expo67 as a “Québec between two worlds”[vii] (p.83) – between traditionalism and modernity (Godbout, Jean, Rivard & Saletti, 2007, p.83). Looking at Expo67 is essential for the purpose of this research because like the Montréal Metro, Expo67 has been an extremely ambitious project that changed the Montréal landscape and city life. Both projects have also been intertwined. Their legacy to Québec and Montréal history is monumental. It is part of our collective imagery, as expressed in a famous Beau Dommage[viii] song.
In sixty-seven everything was beautiful. It was the year of love, it was the year of the Expo. Everybody had their passport with their pretty picture. I wore flowers in my hairs. How ridiculous was I![ix] (Beau Dommage, 1975)
In 1962, the City of Montréal decided to locate the site of the International Exhibition in the middle of the St-Lawrence River. The city doubled the surface of the Sainte-Hélène Island and built a completely new island of 600 hectares, the Notre-Dame Island, with the rock extracted from the ground to build the subway tunnels (Clairoux, 2001, p.35). Furthermore, Expo67 boosted the expansion of the subway system with the creation of the yellow line, which linked the Montréal Island and the South Shore. A subway station was inaugurated on the Sainte-Hélène Island just in time for the beginning of Expo67. Clairoux indicates that during Expo67 70% of fifty million visitors arrived by the Sainte-Hélène[x] subway station, which like the image of the other subway stations, was only accessible by stairs (p.40). This statistic shows that the action of riding the Montréal Metro has been part of the Expo67 experience itself for millions of visitors.
The highest point of Expo67 was reached in the summer, while French President Charles de Gaulle was visiting. De Gaulle’s visit stimulated national pride and collective imagination. The mythic President chose to arrive by boat in Québec city to remember the historical travel of Samuel de Champlain in 1608 (Godbout et al., 2007, p.13). From there, he travelled in a convertible car to Montréal with the Québec Premier Daniel Johnson. In the 260 kilometres between Québec city and Montréal, thousands of enthusiast Québécois gathered along the Chemin du Roy- a historical road that runs along the St-Lawrence River- and acclaimed De Gaulle. The road was paved with lily flowers – the symbol of Québec’s French heritage and at the heart of the Québec flag. People expressed their will to live in French with nationalist slogans such as “Québec en français” and by waiving the flags of Québec and France. Godbout suggested that the President was profoundly touched and staggered by what he saw on his way to Montréal (Ibid.). The ultimate destination of his frenetic trip was the Montréal City Hall. Inspired by the passionate crowd, De Gaulle exclaimed from the balcony: “Vive Montréal! Vive le Québec! Vive le Québec libre!” (p.50). De Gaulle’s declaration galvanized nationalist inspirations. The Canadian Prime Minister, Lester Pearson, upset by the already historical declaration, cancelled De Gaulle’s visit in Ottawa that was supposed to take place only a few days later. After visiting the Expo67 and the Montréal Metro, De Gaulle went back to France leaving behind him a young nation enthusiastically looking for its new identity. Davis (2002) argues that that nationalism is based on normalcy[xi](p.102). The experience of riding the new Montréal Metro and visiting Expo67 was recorded by our collective imaginary as a common experience at the very heart of Québec nationalism. It became a normative experience. An experience understood through other social components such as language, bodies, architecture, politics and economics that define what it means to be a Montréal citizen. Hillier and Hanson write that space is a ‘morphic language’, and one of the means by which society is interpreted by its members” (as cited in Spain, 1992, p.198). The Montréal Metro as interpreted by its riders started to produce meanings and shape the limits of citizenship.
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[i] The inauguration of the initial Montréal Metro network happened on October 14, 1966, even though six stations on twenty-six were still not finished. Clairoux (2001) suggests that mayor Drapeau wanted to make sure to proceed to the inauguration before the civic elections which were held on October 23, 1966 (p.37).
[ii] It is also interesting to note the presence of the Catholic Church during the inauguration of the Montréal Metro. It shows that religion was still an important component of Montréal culture in 1966. Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger was there to process to the benediction of the Montréal Metro. (Société Radio-Canada, 1966)
[iii] My translation of the original quote: “Cinquante ans de patience, de projets, d’études. Cinquante ans d’espoir. Voilà qu’enfin c’est chose faite. Il est donc tout naturel qu’en cet instant ma pensée se porte d’abord vers nous tous, résidents de cette grande ville, afin que nous nous félicitions mutuellement de posséder un tel réseau de transport souterrain. Nous l’avons bien mérité”.
[iv] My translation of the original quote: “Après la cérémonie, le réseau est envahi par des dizaines de milliers de Montréalais qui constatent avec émerveillement que leur Metro est encore plus beau et plus moderne qu’ils ne l’avaient imaginé”.
[v] The geographer Relph states that “modern landscapes seem to be designed for forty-year-old healthy males driving cars” (as cited in Freund, 2001, p.695). The word ‘healthy’ in this sentence implies an absence of disability.
[vi] The hosting of the International Exhibition was awarded to the City of Montréal in 1962. More than fifty million persons visited the Exhibition site in 1967 (Godbout, Jean, Rivard & Saletti, 2007).
[vii] My translation of the original quote: “Québec entre deux mondes”.
[viii] Beau Dommage is a Québec music band that has been extremely popular during the seventies. The group has been involved in the separatist movement. Many of their songs are about everyday life stories in a metropolis in constant change.
[ix] My translation of the original lyrics: “En soixante-sept tout était beau. C'était l'année d'l'amour, c'était l'année d'l'Expo. Chacun son beau passeport avec une belle photo. J’avais des fleurs dans les cheveux, fallais-tu être niaiseux!”
[x] The station Île-Sainte-Hélène has been renamed in 2000. The station is now named Jean-Drapeau station. (Retrieved from http://stm.info/metro/m45.htm)
[xi] In “The Rule of Normalcy: Politics and Disability in the U.S.A [United States of Ability]”, Davis argues that “normalcy and linguistic standardization begin roughly at the same time” and “language and normalcy come together under the rubric on nationalism” (2002, p. 102).
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