A committee, made up of members of the Montreal Pride board of directors, has been created to shed light on the events that led to the cancellation of the Pride parade on Sunday in Montreal, while several important partners of the event seem ready to pass the towel on this controversy.
Montreal Pride general manager Simon Gamache indicated on Sunday that another event could be organized, but a source confirmed to The Canadian Presse that planning a new fashion show was not on the table.
This person, who works for Montreal Pride, preferred to remain anonymous due to the controversy surrounding the decision to cancel the parade due to a lack of personnel.
A meeting is scheduled for Monday afternoon, between representatives of the administration of Valérie Plante and Pride Montreal, to which the City has granted $600,000 this year, for all the festivities.
On Sunday, Mayor Plante expressed her frustration at the cancellation of the parade, saying that if the City had been aware that it was understaffed, she would have “put in the necessary energy. »
MTO requests a meeting
The Ministry of Tourism (MTO) has also “requested event organizers to discuss this situation,” said Meghan Houle, a spokeswoman for MTO.
The Ministry of Tourism has allocated $1,103,000 to Montreal Pride for “all programming” this year.
It is not known how much money was intended for the parade, because “the aid granted is not broken down for each of the activities planned for the program”, specified Meghan Houle.
The ministry was not informed “of any problem related to the progress of the event” and “learned of the cancellation of the parade by the media on Sunday morning”.
The MTO spokeswoman told The Canadian Press “that it is important to mention that, despite the cancellation of the parade, all of the other activities scheduled for the Montréal Pride festival program have taken place and the organizers are planning a positive result”.
Major sponsors will always be there
TD Bank, the “official presenter” of the Montreal Pride festival, said Monday that the cancellation of the parade would have no impact on its relationship with the organization.
“The health and safety of all participants and volunteers is paramount to TD. While we are saddened that the parade has been cancelled, we support the organizers’ decision and will continue to celebrate 2SLGBTQ+ communities today and in the future,” a bank spokesperson said in a forwarded email. at The Canadian Press.
Loto-Québec, another major partner of the event, also reiterated its support for the organizers of the festival, indicating that it will continue “to support the holding of activities surrounding the Montreal Pride festival and is always in solidarity with diversity and inclusion. »
For its part, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) said it was “disappointed with the turn of the event”, but intends to continue supporting Montréal Pride.
“We have been partners of Fierté MTL and the parade since 2016. This is an important event for us. Our partnership is based on an exchange of visibility (and not monetary), so we will not ask for compensation,” said Amélie Régis, public affairs advisor for the STM.
According to information from The Canadian Pressthe committee which is made up of members of the board of directors of Pride Montreal and which must make a post-mortem of the event, will not issue a comment on Monday, but will rather publish a press release later this week.