The inaugural trip of the Boulevard Perron

The inauguration of the Boulevard Perron around the Gaspé Peninsula was a political event. The Premier led a group around the peninsula, stopping in several locations along the way. The tournée wrapped together several objectives, to celebrate the work of the engineers and road-builders, to meet and greet local leaders and mayors and to harvest the many compliments of communities, citizens and voters for the political leadership exerted by premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau and his energetic minister J-L Perron. As was common in Quebec at the time, there were also moments for an official blessing and banquets where speeches were part of the menu. The five-day tour was also an opportunity to promote the new highway and to liberated journalists from being chained to their desks to join the group and write flattering columns. The strategy worked – Le Devoir, The Montreal Gazette and La Presse all covered the opening of the new Gaspe highway and their generous and flattering coverage did much to introduce the new roadway to readers across the province.