The philosophy underlying the city's new cultural policy is to foster local culture and encounters between citizens and culture. This includes awareness of cultural recreation programs as well as the city's orientation to the “living together” that is being talked about in Montreal. It takes shape through the culture, inclusion and fairness that exists between creators and Montrealers. In this sense, any development of cultural districts and infrastructures will consolidate this approach.
In addition, there is much talk of the need to invest in places, since these are the basis of projects. That said, it will be necessary to be vigilant. Almost all cultural organizations and businesses are aware of the problems faced by the company of the lady who made a presentation earlier. We invest a lot in infrastructure, but we forget that it takes money to keep it up and running, to do the necessary work and to keep things running.
As for the investments that the city wishes to make in the future—and we hope that the Canadian government will do the same—it will be important to establish the types of mutualisation, to create shared workplaces, to put in place risk-sharing structures, where new business models will be applied in ways that allow businesses and organizations to carry much less of a financial burden and do what they are really intended to do, that is, create. They spend most of their time looking for funds to survive.
As for us, the orientation we give to our cultural policy, which is related to cultural districts and organizations, includes new business models, models of social economy, risk sharing, mutualisation and development of cultural entrepreneurship.