(Montreal) Operation Red Nose experienced good growth for its 40e edition this year, but still remains far from the results of the last holiday season before the pandemic.
The results of the 2023 edition, which was held from November 24 to December 31, show more than 30,000 rides carried out by nearly 28,000 volunteers across Canada, the majority of whom were being carried out in Quebec, where more than 24,600 escorts involving more than 22,600 volunteers were recorded.
“For Quebec, this represents a nice increase compared to last year, 19% more escorts and 22% more in terms of profits,” rejoices Marilyn Vigneault, director of communications at Operation Red Nose.
These benefits are the donations collected for youth or amateur sports organizations, because although the escort service is always free, there are few who do not give an amount in return. “To give you an idea, this year in Canada, nearly $800,000 will have been raised through these donations,” underlines M.me Vigneault.
Operation Red Nose continues to spread, slowly but surely, across the country. It is found in seven provinces, the most important points being Manitoba, with 10 regions served and British Columbia, where the service was established in eight regions. In Quebec, 87% of the territory was covered by Operation Red Nose this year.
Superior results before the pandemic
In 2019, the last holiday season before the pandemic, the escort service brought nearly 70,000 Canadians – including more than 50,000 Quebecers – home.
In 2020, in Quebec, there had been no escorts due to containment measures and, although launched as usual in 2021, Operation Red Nose had to end its activities on December 21 when Quebec had once again prohibits gatherings during the holiday season.
We do not know the cause of the decrease in the number of escorts compared to 2019, but Marilyn Vigneault believes that the population is becoming more aware of their responsibilities: “We hope that the awareness messages which are hammered out, yes by Nez rouge, but also by Éduc’alcool or the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, are bearing fruit. »
“We hope that people will target a designated driver, plan their transport in a safe manner, but what I can tell you is that in 1984, when Mr. De Koninck (Jean-Marie De Koninck, founder of the Operation Red Nose) had this idea, 50% of fatal accidents were linked to impaired driving, whereas today we are at 30%. We see an improvement, but there is still work to do. »