Montreal Pride Parade | A “deplorable” and “unacceptable” cancellation

Former members of the management of Pride Montreal find it difficult to explain the surprise cancellation of the parade in the metropolis. At a time when a resumption of the event seems excluded, many are calling for a review of the organization of this flagship event for the LGBTQ+ community. The current management has remained silent.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

Vincent Larin
The Press

“It’s impossible to reorganize a Pride this year. People who think that don’t understand the magnitude of the work it requires. On the contrary, you have to take the time to do an intelligent post mortem. And not rushing a parade is all wrong. We have to do a serious post mortem, sit down and make an unshakeable plan for 2023, ”says former vice-president of Montreal Pride Jean-Sébastien Boudreault.

For him, the cancellation of this year’s parade is “deplorable” and above all shows a “lack of experience”, in particular for not “having tried to speak with the mayor and the police department” in order to come up with plans for replacement.

The Press reported Monday that a simple oversight on the part of Montreal Pride led to the cancellation of the parade. On Monday, five members of the board of directors did not call back The Press. The director general of the organization, Simon Gamache, also declined an interview request. On Sunday, he had indicated that some employees were to hire about 100 paid receptionists for the holding of the event, but that this had not been done. Note also that a petition calling for the resignation of Simon Gamache appeared online on Monday.

A committee of board members formed on Monday to shed light on Sunday’s events. He will publish a press release this week to clarify the matter, said Montreal Pride press officer Nathalie Roy.

Representing the Montreal fetish community for a year and a half, Guillaume Dupuis was involved in the organization of several events with Montreal Pride. He also denounces an “unacceptable” management of an event that is nevertheless “essential” in the community.

In the opinion of Mr. Dupuis, “something does not work internally”. “It will take clear answers. However, we must ask ourselves if the problem really comes from the people in management. The board of directors has nevertheless been quite renewed in recent years. It’s almost 50-50 for the old and the new generation. It was a bit like the first Pride of this cohort,” he explains.

“Big lack of organization”

A former employee of Pride Montreal who does not wish to identify himself speaks of a “big lack of organization”. “We would have to start from scratch,” he slips. It takes a new world, a new structure, with people who really represent us. The 100% cleaning that we had promised did not really happen, ”he adds, in reference to the change of guard announced in 2020 by Montreal Pride, in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct against its former president, Éric Pineault.

Michel Dorion, well-known personality of the Gay Village and ex-responsible for the Montreal Pride parade, also speaks of a “serious fault” of the organization. He calls for “serious reflection within the team [de direction et] also within the AC.

Mayor Valérie Plante met with the management of Montreal Pride on Monday. The elected official had expressed her “surprise” and her “dissatisfaction” with the cancellation of the parade on Sunday. According to our information, the City will study the possibility of celebrating the LGBTQ+ community differently this year, but the holding of a new parade would not be planned.

City sources said Monday evening, after the meeting, that the mayor had asked the CEO of the organization and the chairman of its board of directors, Moe Hamandi, that an independent process be put in place “over the next days” in order to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the parade, in addition to making recommendations to “restore the confidence of communities, Montrealers and partners”. According to these sources, Pride Montreal would have accepted the request, and details should be communicated “quickly” on this subject.

A whole procession canceled

The general manager of Young Gay Adults of Montérégie, Rafael Provost, was already in Montreal on Sunday when he heard the news. “We had an organized procession, we were preparing and we had to be at least 80 people from our region,” he said.

“We even had a 14-seater electric car, we had been preparing for weeks. Then we learned the news like everyone else, in the media. »

In his eyes, the cancellation of such an event is surprising, but above all, it calls for a review of the way of organizing it. “We’re going to have to work a lot more as a team, the community and Montreal Pride, so that it’s not just in the hands of a single organization. We are about forty LGTBQ+ organizations in Quebec, each with their own expertise. We have to be around the table. The gang effect is always more effective. Blind spots, when there are several of us, we find them,” concludes Mr. Provost.