This is the return of arcades after about 40 years of ban

The Vézina skittle salon has a new arcade room since this summer in Rimouski. For the project to see the day, the city had to modify its regulations which have prohibited these rooms on its territory since 2000. In doing so, it has followed suit to other cities like Sept-Îles which again allow the presence of arcades. But why were these establishments prohibited at the start?

We are in 1982. Blade Runner has just arrived in the dining room, the musical Chicken foot is at the top of his glory and the arcades know their golden age. It is also the year when the Government of Quebec votes a law allowing municipalities to prohibit or restrict access to arcades on their territory.

I think there were fears of parents that unavailable elements infiltrate this environment and recruit young people, either for drug trafficking, or for juvenile crime or juvenile prostitutiontells the sociologist Louise Lemire.

She looked at the phenomenon of arcades at the time and was interviewed on this subject in 1982 by Radio-Canada for the program Contrechamp.

Contacted today, she recalls that the Arcades constituted gathering places for young people, which made them fertile places for criminals at a period before the arrival of the Internet. You have to get back in context, there were no personal computers or game consoles at the timeshe says.

Police director Serge Bégin, who had interviewed in 1983 by Radio-Canada on the show Day by dayhad conducted an investigation into the dangers surrounding the arcades. He pointed out at the time that the risks of slippage emerged in less well -kept places.

If the owners or their representative are people who let things do, it easily becomes places, meeting places for drug sellers, or even people who concealhe explained.

Moral panic

The historian specializing in video games Julien Bazile considers that a certain moral panic surrounded the arcades at that time.

We are in a context of mistrusthe comments. There are fears that the content represented at stake give ideas of violence, or give birth to inclinations, and this, with influencing young people.

According to him, the financial aspect of the arcades was also a fear. Since it was necessary to pay to play, the arcades were associated with slot machines and raised fears of the infiltration of the industry by organized crime.

The authorities also feared that to finance their outings at the arcades, young people use illicit methods such as the sale of stolen objects or even prostitution.

However, Mr. Bazile as Mrs. Lemire believes that if certain police fears were undoubtedly justified, they were probably partly exaggerated.

I would not necessarily take, a priori, for cash all that the police chiefs report, and Cetera. Finally, there was a lot of panic.

In any case, the situation is very different today. The Sûreté du Québec has no objection to the opening of the new arcade in Rimouski, and its co -owner, Frédéric Vézina, notes that customers are no longer the same as at the time.

Most bowling salons in western Canada have arcades. The moments when I worked there, what we observed is exactly what is happening here: familieshe notes.