Peace Park Documentary
Place de La Paix / Peace Park,* is a 90 minute documentary about a public space that was inaugurated in 1994, located on St-Laurent Boulevard, between Ste-Catherine and René-Lévesque in Montréal, QC.
The purpose of this documentary is to help illuminate a section of Montréal that is near extinction, and in doing so attempting to create an awareness of the locals who are the individuals most directly affected by changes being implemented in the area. With the recent attempts of city officials to clean up the borough of Ville-Marie with the intention of ridding the area of its “undesirable” population and establishments, it becomes ever more pressing that the public learn about the people and spaces in the borough, Peace Park being one of these spaces. Throughout the film, emphasis will be put on the significance of Peace Park as important for Montréal’s heritage because historically this public space has brought together people from all walks of life who have helped set the foundation of Montréal as a liberal city and its joie de vivre.
This video will convey to its audience the history of Peace Park and the role it plays as an urban public space in Montréal’s heritage with research derived from both qualitative observation and empirical data from academic research. For the past 10 years, Dave Bouthillier has documenting its presence and inhabitants by conducting extensive interviews with local policemen, architects, city officials, and park locals such as drug users/abusers, sex workers, and skateboarders. Moreover, for the historical and factual information about Peace Park, was researched through the city archives, newspaper articles, journal articles, and archeological dig reports that show the evolution of the public space and its importance to our culture.
What makes the documentary really interesting is the access to a variety of people in their daily lives he has gained from skateboarding in the park everyday. Few people have the street knowledge he’s acquired which allows him to, film dangerous urban real life dramatic incidents with a innovative and unique filming style in a safe and confident manner, which are guaranteed to captivate an audience, mixed with Québec music artists exclusively. A highlight in the video will be a comparison of present day mirrored to the red light district of the 1960s.
Following is a brief description of what the audience can anticipate viewing in the documentary. Peace Park has always attracted individuals from “lower” walks of life. To emphasize this point, the film will trace the history of this public space since the 1800s and show how this space, located in the red light district of Montréal, has always been an important part of the dark elements, which constituted Montréal society. The video will continue to follow this history by touching on several important events that have helped shape Peace Park into how we know it today.
Peace Park is essentially a microcosm of Montréal, consisting of diverse groups of people struggling to co-exist. It is not Peace Park itself that attracts its daily visitors; rather it is because of its location in the heart of the red light district and because historically, individuals attracted to vice and sin were led to this public place.
For the purpose of simplification the diverse groups that occupy Peace Park will be broken down into four groups: the “decision makers,” the “locals”, the “neighbours”, and the “casual citizens.” Like the larger society in which Peace Park resides, the four groups survive in constant tension with one another. The documentary will look at how these 4 groups interact as the history of the park unfolds, which will include the history of the skateboard community, the graffiti scene, and the change in the environment.
The “decision makers” consist of big money investors, city officials, politicians, high-class socialites, and the police. These groups don’t voluntarily choose to interact with the park, but because of their authoritative positions vis-à-vis the park they are obligated to do so. Their presence and decisions have a major impact on the locals that live in the park, and more often than not they tend to neglect the needs and rights of the “locals” that frequent Peace Park on a daily basis. The more changes they make to try “clean up” the park and its surrounding area, the more the historical red light district of Montréal is in danger of disappearing forever.
The “local” group consists of the homeless, gangsters, hustlers, drugs dealers, sex workers, thieves, murderers, jailbirds, natives, graffiti artists, and skaters, all choosing to interact with the park with a high level of involvement. This group has a heavy commitment to Peace Park, becoming a second home to many, and at the very least a place to gather and socialize. The frequent users of the park are the most directly affected by the “decision makers” whose primary goal is to maintain control over the park and drive out the “lowly”.
The “neighbour” group is the largest of the four. This group consists of people who live near to the park, all the surrounding businesses and their employees, and city workers. Because of the group’s size, their opinions can influence action for social change. However, the “neighbours” have fairly mixed thoughts on the situation at Peace Park in terms of what needs attention or improvement. This is why the “locals” to motivate their “neighbours” to help bring change and improve their standards of living. Unfortunately, because most choose not to interact with the park, they maintain a low level of involvement by sticking to their daily routine where is there is little risk for negative interactions.
The fourth group, the “casuals,” unifies the passing walker, sightseer, and tourists, those who stop for a break, food, or a refreshment of their fancy. These people do actively choose to enter and interact with the park, but it is with a low level of involvement. Generally minding their own business, they face no serious risk or danger when interacting with the park, as long as they keep a distance from its “locals.” Because this group only interacts with the park for very brief and distanced moments, they tend to judge the park based on its appearance. It is this group that the “decision makers” care to please the most by trying to convincing them the park is a pleasant place to visit.
Perhaps one of the most interesting conclusions drawn from the research is that the “locals” at Peace Park, although neglected and often despised by the decision makers and some of its surrounding “neighbours,” have been able to use this public space as a means of creating a community and sense of belonging based on respect, and have been for generations. Even though their community doesn’t always appear harmonious, at its core, it is a tight community of “local” lifers who, without a public space like Peace Park, may not have found a space to come together. Peace Park is a place where they share many experiences, often unlawful, and endure the misery and pain of street life and poverty, where tolerance towards each person is the code of the streets. Respecting street ethics is the only way to survive. When an outsider interacts with a “local”, if they are not familiar with the way of the street, it is easy for them to offend the park locals, who are quick to defend their self-respect by whatever means necessary.
It’s is important to create awareness about this group of people that occupy Peace Park because they represent a part of society that has important roots in Montréal’s history. However, they have often been unappreciated and perceived as un-deserving of a place in our society by the average citizen. Because the documentary is filmed in the heart of Montréal, it will help elucidate the situation at Peace Park to all groups involved to better understand their “locals”, who are constantly being targeted and having their rights violated, and find way to address the needs everyone who interacts with the park.
* For the purposes of this documentary, Place de la Paix or Place of Peace will be referred to by its colliquial name, “Peace Park.”
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