The streets of Montreal will not host the Canada Day parade on July 1. The City of Montreal would be mainly to blame for this decision, according to the leader of the official opposition at city hall.
• Read also: “Political differences”: the Canada Day parade in Montreal canceled
“What we are experiencing today is disappointing, it is unacceptable and it is embarrassing for the administration and for Montrealers,” declared Aref Salem in an interview with LCN.
The organizing committee justified itself by saying that “political differences” pushed it to cancel the parade. According to him, the complexity of obtaining a permit also weighed in the balance.
For Mr. Salem, the responsibility therefore lies with the City. This would be to blame for the cancellation.
“We talked about a heavy bureaucracy,” he explained. So, it’s certain that for an event organizer or promoter, it’s difficult to get a permit when it’s so cumbersome and takes a lot of time.”
LCN screenshot
A “list” of cancellations
The leader of the opposition also explains that this parade is not the first to fall through in the metropolis. “There is a whole list of events that have already been canceled in Montreal. We talk about Métro Métro, Montreal in celebration, the Carnival of Colors [et le défilé] of Pride,” he stressed. This did not take place in 2022 due to a lack of communication between the organizers.
The F1 weekend was also a “fiasco”, according to Mr Salem.
“It’s unfortunate, because it’s still another festival that we are losing, 120,000 people came to Montreal to celebrate,” he mentioned.
The cultural scene would also suffer from this lack of organization, said the opposition leader.
Watch the full interview in the video above.
