Emilie St-Hilaire, a Concordia Public Scholar and PhD candidate in the Humanities, published an opinion piece in the Winnipeg Free Press on the rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
In the op-ed, St-Hilaire urges both the public and the rebuilders to consider past, present and future. Drawing comparisons to the fire that engulfed the cathedral in Saint Boniface, Manitoba in 1968, St-Hilaire argues that any potential rebuild presents us with an opportunity to commemorate and progress with an eye to future generations.
Adhering to a strict timeline of 5 years for the rebuild might be short-sighted, she believes, without a sufficient period of reflection or consultation on the space's future needs.
"Rebuild as a testament to the future," she urges. "Rebuild sustainably, and with consideration for the lives and personal struggles of the millions of people who will visit the site for decades, if not centuries, to come."