Charlie Hebdo in Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy

Quebec City (Quebec) January 10, 2015 – Solidarity for the slain Charlie Hebdo cartoonists continues to be felt throughout the city.  While the killings have sparked a near-unanimous reassertion of freedom of expression – even of materials offensive to religious groups – groups throughout the city are showing their support by seeing to it the images shown in Charlie Hebdo, for which the cartoonists were targeted and killed, continue to be as visible as possible.

The Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy, in the lower town, has set up a stand with several of Charlie Hebdo’s cartoonists’ works in books and anthologies.  Above them, a quote by Raoul Vaneigem, a Belgian philosopher, reads “Il n’y a ni bon ni mauvais usage de la liberté d’expression, il n’en existe qu’un usage insuffisant.” (“There is neither good nor bad use of freedom of expression, there is only its insufficient use.”)  Part monument, part defiance, library-goers who walk past it are not left indifferent.