Today, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Member of Parliament for Ville-Marie-Le Sud-Ouest-Île-des-Soeurs, announced a federal investment of more than $6.5 million to support the construction of a new carbon-neutral building for MR-63, a Montreal-based cultural organization. For the occasion, he was accompanied by Benoit Dorais, Vice-chair of the Executive committee of the City of Montreal and borough mayor for Le Sud-Ouest, Frédéric Morin-Bordeleau, General Manager and co-founder of MR-63, and Étienne Morin-Bordeleau, Creative Director and co-founder of MR-63.
This investment will allow MR-63 to construct a permanent cultural performance centre by reusing eight former Montreal subway cars. The exterior glass structure will be complemented by dense biodiverse native vegetation that will cover the entire envelope and interior mezzanines. The outdoor public plaza will also capture rainwater for watering the building's plants and will be greened to create a public cooling island. The very low energy consumption of this project will also play an important role in reducing the environmental footprint and in achieving Canada's climate targets for a more sustainable future.
The building will meet the highest accessibility standards and will create a public space dedicated to showcasing Montreal's cultural talent. It will also host civic and community events and actions to support vulnerable residents and marginalized communities.
MR-63 offers local and environmentally responsible cultural and creative programming. Wanting to contribute to its host neighbourhood, the organization strives to bring together communities distanced by gentrification by celebrating their diversity and history. The availability and location of these spaces and the services they support play an important role in promoting inclusion and addressing systemic inequalities.
By investing in infrastructure, the Government of Canada is growing our country's economy, building resilient communities, and improving the lives of Canadians.
