Disappointment, surprise and confusion are swirling through Montreal after the city’s Pride parade was cancelled last minute on Sunday morning.
Event organizers posted a tweet just after 9 a.m. that due to “lack of sufficient personnel to ensure security along the route” the parade was cancelled.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said in a news conference that she was frustrated and disappointed.
“I found out it was cancelled like everyone else,” she said. “I don’t understand that within five minutes, it’s cancelled. I don’t understand how we got to this situation. I’m not happy. I’m disappointed.”
Plante has walked in past Pride parades and was planning to join the event on Sunday.
“If we had known that there was a shortage of staff, or even anything, we would have put the energy into it,’ said Plante.
Celeste Trianon organized the Montreal Trans March on Saturday and said she is “beyond disappointed” that Pride Montreal’s signature event was cancelled with no notice.
“I was not expecting the trans march to become the only pride march in the Montreal region,” said Trianon. “It was completely non-transparent on their end. If they did a public call for volunteers, it might have gone better.”
Trianon said the Saturday march saw record numbers show up to take in the event, and many more were expected for Sunday’s parade.
Montreal Pride added in the tweet that festivities will continue at Olympic Park at 2 p.m. on Sunday, an hour after the parade was scheduled to start.
Pop-up parties sprung up along Ste. Catherine St. for those still wanting to celebrate.
Florence, left, and Billie dance at the site where the Montreal Pride parade was supposed to start from in Montreal, Sunday, August 7, 2022. Festival organizers cancelled the parade over concerns for security due to the lack of staff. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Parade organizer Simon Gamache told The Canadian Press that they were short around 80 volunteers on Sunday, and to run a safe event around 200 are needed.
He added that COVID-19 infections and heat-related illnesses may have played a role in volunteers cancelling at the last minute.
The 2.9-kilometre parade along Rene-Levesque Blvd. in Montreal’s downtown core was going to be the first full parade since 2019.
The Montreal Pride Parade route on Sunday at 1 p.m.Last year, a smaller celebration was held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The celebration of LGBTQ2S+ life and culture is one of the most popular in North America and typically draws thousands of participants, celebrities and politicians.
The City of Montreal set up what was supposed to be its parade float in Dorchester Square with a DJ, entertaining the disappointed people who came out for the parade.
The City of Montreal’s parade float is set up in Dorchester Square playing music after the Pride parade was cancelled. SOURCE: John R. Kennedy
With files from the Canadian Press.