Association Polio Quebec / End of Trip
- Thursday 29 & Saturday 31 May

Mr Gilles Besner is the President of Association Polio Quebec and, after we had been emailing about my visit for a few months, he invited me to attend a dinner with the Board on the Thursday evening before giving a presentation at their Annual General Meeting on Saturday 31 May – the day I was flying back to Melbourne. I was delighted to accept both invitations, especially as my flight on Saturday wasn’t leaving until 5.30pm and it’s so boring just waiting around all day before going to the airport.

According to their website (www.polioquebec.org):
The vision of the Polio Québec Association is to be the best possible source of help in Québec for people affected by polio. Its mission is to provide support and information to those who had polio and to foster public awareness on all aspects of polio, including prevention. Its goals are to:
- Foster public and medical awareness about polio, post-polio syndrome and the importance of measures which improve the quality of life;
- Advocate on behalf of people who had polio;
- Develop and strengthen partnerships with other relevant organizations;
- Encourage research into the treatment of port-polio syndrome and other related conditions.

Dinner on Thursday took place at a suburban Italian restaurant which my uncle dropped me off at and which Gilles and his wife had offered to drive me back from. There were around 14 members of the Board present, made up of polio survivors and ‘interested others’ such as treating physicians and family members. One such member was Stewart Valin, the son of a polio survivor and co-editor of a book entitled “Walking Fingers”: The Story of Polio and Those Who Lived With It. The title describes how Stewart’s father used to reach for items across the dining table with his polio-weakened arms. The other co-editors are Sally Aitken and Helen D’Orazio. “Walking Fingers” was presented to as a gift to be added to the polio library. I am very much looking forward to reading it, as well as identifying any ideas we might like to borrow for our own Oral Polio History book project. The book is available on line through Amazon: www.amazon.com/Walking-Fingers-Story-Polio-Those/dp/1550651803

As well as Gilles, there were also 2 previous Presidents of Association Polio Quebec present. I was sitting opposite Dr Daria Trojan, with whom I was scheduled to meet with on Friday morning. The discussion around the table was mainly about the similarities Canada and USA have with Australia regarding the numbers of polio survivors still seeking information and lack of government funding available for resources and services.

After dinner, Gilles and his wife drove me through Montreal’s CBD to see it by night. We also travelled to the highpoint, Mount Royal, to look out across the lights of the city. It was a lovely sight, if just a little too chilly for my still infected bronchial system. As with this type of location everywhere in the world, many young people were busy finding all kinds of ways to keep warm. We continued on down one of the main thoroughfares, St Catherine Street, which, at some point, becomes Montreal’s ‘gay quarter’. Montreal has the reputation of being one of the most liberal minded provinces concerning the gay movement and people come from all over Canada, as well as the USA, to enjoy this freedom of expression.

Association Polio Quebec’s Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday at one of Montreal’s hotels on a dank and rainy day. The weather may have impacted on the number of people who were expected to attend but there were still something like 20-30 present – including 2 of my uncles, one of whom is a professional photographer, so we should have some quality shots of the day in due course.

My presentation provided a history of the Polio Network as a service of ParaQuad Victoria and how we and the other Australian networks are looking to form Polio Australia to establish a national voice. I reiterated the need for our type of organisations to continue providing information and, if possible, to incorporate an active outreach program for all those polio survivors who still haven’t heard of post-polio syndrome.

Being in Montreal, Quebec, the audience was predominantly French speaking, but one of the Board members (a physiotherapist) was kind enough to provide the translation. I was actually born to a French-Canadian mother and all that side of my family is French speaking. However, due to our migrating to Australia when I was a baby – and with my father being Dutch – regrettably, I was never taught the language myself. Many Quebecois can speak both French and English, but there are also many who do not. All signs are in French and you really know you are in a different part of the country – virtually and separate country in itself. There is a long and complex history of conflict between the English and French settlement of Canada dating back to the 1500-1600’s. If the difference in monarchy, language, and culture isn’t enough there is also the Protestant (English) vs Catholic (French) religious tension. All very interesting and perplexing for an ‘outsider’ like me.

Then it was time to go and I was presented with a plaque of appreciation, which I just managed to squeeze into my luggage. My uncle drove me to the airport for the first of the three flights I had to catch back to Melbourne, i.e. Montreal to Chicago to Los Angeles to Melbourne. As I write this, I’m still waiting for my luggage to catch up to me. The suitcase and I lost contact at LA and it somehow found its way to Brisbane before being put on another plane back to Melbourne. Better the bag than me, but there are a number of things I’m keen to be reunited with – including the “Walking Fingers” book, 4 cans of maple syrup, and some necessary items of clothing . . . Some stuff I could easily replace – other items are irreplaceable simply due to the nature of how I acquired them.

So, the six week trip has come to an end and I have yet to integrate all that I have learned. However, I feel more confident that Polio Network Victoria is really doing as much, if not more, than other information-based organisations throughout the USA and Canada. I can only hope the information exchange has also benefited some of the people and organisations I have visited. A full report will now need to be written for the Churchill Trust which will also be uploaded to the Polio Network Victoria website. A copy of the report will also be provided to all those people and organisations I visited. Many people were video taped and/or audio taped which will also need editing. In other words, there’s still a lot of work to do, so wish me luck!