Even after the announcement of the cancellation of the Montreal Pride Parade, which was supposed to take place on Sunday, due to a lack of staff, there was still a lack of understanding.
• Also read: Wave of disappointment and anger among the participants
• Also read: Montreal Pride parade canceled due to lack of volunteers
“We had a procession, a car, we had everything ready and more than a hundred people were supposed to come and join us,” explains Rafaël Provost, General Manager of Young Gay Adults of Montérégie. “For organizations like us, the community that’s underfunded, it’s quite a commitment.”
Mayor Valérie Plante said she was “disappointed” by the announcement and wanted an explanation. She is also demanding explanations from the leaders of Pride Montreal, with whom she has scheduled a meeting Monday afternoon.
The city and the @SPVM were ready to host the Pride Parade. We had been waiting for this for 2 years and couldn’t wait to be there.
Questions linger surrounding his last-minute cancellation @PrideMTLPride. We’re waiting for answers and an autopsy. #polmtl
— Valerie Plante (@Val_Plante) August 7, 2022
Photo agency QMI, Thierry Laforce
“The image of the company, the direction of the company […] is a little spoiled,” said Patrice Lavoie, vice president of communications at H+K Strategies. “As for Montreal’s image, I would say that the city still has a good international reputation for a variety of reasons.”
At a press conference, Prime Minister Legault stressed that “It is not the City of Montreal’s fault [ni] the fault of the SPVM and [ni] the fault of the Quebec government”.
Then whose fault is it?
According to Pride Montreal, there was a lack of volunteers to oversee the parade.
The City of Montreal says it could have provided the resources to host the event, but the organization running the event simply didn’t ask for help.
Strong reactions on social networks
Several netizens reacted violently to the announcement of the parade’s cancellation.
Didn’t you wake up in the morning and found 80 people missing??? They didn’t all call in sick at the same time in the morning! You should have said that @MTL_City days before you tell them you’re in trouble! Hay Spindle Management…
– Simon Galipeau 🇺🇦🇪🇺🏳️🌈⚜️ (@psykotikx) August 8, 2022
Hundreds of festival-goers took the initiative to organize an impromptu demonstration with the help of the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal.
The route, transmitted to the authorities, meandered through Sainte-Catherine street before ending at Émilie Gamelin park.
“I believe the organization will learn from its mistakes,” said Mr. Lavoie.
Montreal Pride does not wish to speak to the media. A press release will be sent out this week.
An internal board committee was set up on Sunday to analyze the file on the cancellation of the parade. The committee will try to shed light on the thread of events to understand what happened.