montreal: Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau put in a personal appearance at the inaugural meeting of the board of directors of Societe generale des enterprises culturelles, the new cultural funding agency which began operations March 31.

sodec and its new president, Pierre Lampron, take over the activities of sogic and Institut quebecois du cinema, Quebec’s film advisory body.

At the March 30 press conference following the board meeting, Parizeau said he told sodec management to ‘keep it simple’ in its dealings with the private sector, and he made a point of underlining the merits of tying fiscal initiatives to cultural industries.

The premier said the government is woefully behind in its conversion to online technology, but added a government umbrella site on the Internet would be up and running by the end of May.

It was also announced that sodec would begin support for companies active in multimedia development.

When asked about potential personnel changes at sodec, Parizeau said he won’t interfere with day-to-day operations. However, he will remain Quebec’s minister of culture and communications for at least several more months. ‘There are a certain number of areas where the powers and authority of the premier’s office can be useful,’ he said.

On the Radio-Quebec issue, Parizeau said the public broadcaster’s board of directors asked for a one-week stay in delivering a statement of mission in light of major funding cutbacks announced for fiscal 1995. He said once the report was filed, an independent review committee would make recommendations.

At press time, there were clear indications that Jean Fortier, former president at Television Quatre Saisons, would be named the new president at Radio-Quebec. Fortier has been asked to head up the review committee.

The apftq, the Quebec producer’s association, has stated strong support for the premier’s decision to take on responsibility for culture and communications.