The cancellation of the traditional Montreal Pride parade on Sunday threatens to “break” the bond of trust that unites the community to this event, in addition to harming Montreal’s reputation as a meeting point for the LGBTQ + community, warn several stakeholders. . The City is counting on an independent investigation to prevent this fiasco from happening again.
“We could have found people who would have gotten up at 6 or 8 a.m. to do a three-hour training to supervise the march,” says the president of Team Montreal, an organization that brings together various sports and leisure clubs. of the LGBTQ+ community, Yannick Fabre.
The latter regrets that his team was not contacted before Pride Montreal canceled Sunday morning the holding of its annual parade scheduled for the same day. Rather, he learned of this decision from the media.
“It’s strange because the reason why [l’organisme] Pride was created, it was precisely to perpetuate these parades, these protest marches” started in Montreal at the end of the 1970s, continues Mr. Fabre. It was also the 15th parade headed by the Montreal Pride organization, and the first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 12,000 participants were expected in the parade and some 100,000 spectators.
The cancellation of this flagship event could thus prove to be “extremely harmful” by threatening to break the bond of trust that unites the community organizations of the metropolis with Fierté Montréal. A situation that could have “very long-term” impacts, fears Yannick Fabre.
Reputation
The reputation of Pride Montreal will have to be rebuilt to avoid significant economic consequences as of next year, apprehends for its part Tourisme Montreal, one of the partners of the event.
Pride Montreal is the flagship event of August for Montreal tourism, benefiting hoteliers and merchants. In 2018 and 2019, more than 20% of festival attendees came from out of town, according to Manuela Goya, vice-president of public affairs for Tourisme Montréal. For hoteliers, this represented 168,000 overnight stays in 2019. The openness to diversity and the organization of major events are also part of the city’s appeal, according to Ms. Goya.
“As it was canceled at the last minute, people came from all over and bumped into a closed door. That’s the big disappointment,” lamented Ms. Goya, whose organization donated $100,000 to Montreal Pride this year.
According to her, it is important to know exactly what happened to prevent it from happening again.
“A company or an organization that grants sums of money expects to receive something in return. We expected to receive a parade, “said the one who also deplores a missed opportunity to contribute to the revitalization of the Village.
It will then be necessary to set up a “catch-up cell” to regain the confidence of members of the LGBTQ + communities around the world.
“The Tourisme Montréal machine is very efficient in all matters of promotion, so we will be able to help. It will be necessary to demonstrate that 2022 was a hiatus and that the parade is coming back in force, ”said Ms. Goya.
The main partners of the event, for their part, have all indicated that they will continue to support the event despite this incident.
“While we are saddened that the parade has been cancelled, we support the decision of the organizers and will continue to celebrate the 2SLGBTQ + communities today and in the future”, indicated by email the director of public affairs of the presenter. official, TD Bank Group, Caroline Phemius.
Independent investigation
Ms. Plante and members of her cabinet also met Monday evening with the chairman of the board of directors of Montreal Pride, Moe Hamandi, in the company of the organization’s general manager, Simon Gamache, in office since last year. It was then that the mayor called for an independent investigation; a request that received a positive response today from the board of directors of Pride Montreal.
“The Montreal Pride team will await the results of this investigation to comment on the situation,” Montreal Pride press officer Nathalie Roy said by email on Tuesday. No current member of the organization’s board of directors has responded to interview requests from the To have toas are several former members of the organization.
“It’s something that is incomprehensible” that the parade was canceled, for his part reacted the co-owner of the bar Le Cocktail, Michel Dorion, who is also a former member of the Montreal Pride team. “It’s impossible, it can’t be. Where were the cries for help? Just 48 hours before the event, we could have asked the community to come together, to find people. There was no call for help, that’s what I don’t understand, ”continues the Montreal drag queen.
The identity of the team that will be mandated to carry out this investigation will be known in the coming days, indicates the office of the mayor to the To have to.
“Rebuilding trust”
The purpose of this investigation will be to shed light on the circumstances that led to the last-minute cancellation of this parade – justified at the base by a lack of employees and volunteers to ensure its security – in addition to issuing recommendations to prevent such a situation from recurring in the coming years. Part of the $600,000 budget allocated by the City to all of the Montreal Pride festivities this year will be used to finance this independent investigation, confirmed The duty.
“Everyone will be there to support, whatever recommendations are chosen”, assured in an interview on Tuesday the director general of the Quebec LGBT Council, Ariane Marchand-Labelle, who was also “very surprised” by the cancellation of this parade. “I think it’s the best way to rebuild trust” in Montreal Pride, she added.
Such an investigation is also necessary so that “measures are taken to avoid” that the cancellation of this annual parade “does not happen again”, added the director general of the RÉZO organization, Alexandre Dumont Blais.