The reasoning behind the shocking last-minute cancellation of the Montreal Pride Festival can be summed up in a simple yet glaring oversight, according to the event's organizers: Hire failure security staff.
The parade was canceled on Sunday morning, hours before kickoff.
In an interview with CBC Montreal's Daybreak host Sean Henry, Simon Gamash said that he Said it was then that he learned "the security staff of about 100 inches required to monitor the route of the parade had never been hired.
14} Gamash, executive director of Montreal Pride, said, ``It was never done. We're working on it. I don't want to speculate at this point," he said."Of course, I am the secretary general of this organization, so I am ultimately responsible."
The tens of thousands of expected spectators and participants were disappointed. Some were holding impromptu events of their own because they were left alone. Gamash must explain what went wrong, why and what it is. A vehicle for the future of the organization.
Less than a year after he served as the organization's executive director, Mr. Gamache said his Montreal Pride had sufficient resources to complete the recruitment process, but For some reason, he said the job was overlooked.
Sunday's march would have been the first large-scale Pride He parade in the city since the pandemic began.
Initially, Montreal Pride tweeted that the decision to cancel the event was made in collaboration with the Montreal Police Department. The organization later corrected its statement, saying the decision was made solely by the organizers.
The cancellation caught many people off guard, including Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante.
"If we had been told about the staff shortage and so on, [we] would have put in the energy we needed," the mayor said at a press conference on Sunday.
"My frustration this morning was that it appeared that a decision had been made, but we were not informed. That is a shame."
} In a tweet, the Montreal Police Department stressed that it was not involved in the decision to cancel the event and stood ready to assist with security for the event. Saying it's too late
As a result of the sudden cancellation, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Montreal immediately began coordinating the offsite event.
A sit-in was planned at Place Émilie-Gamelin in the city's downtown core to protest the cancellation. Crowds of parade-goers gathered there and marched down St. Catherine Street.
"We were promised a place to make our voices heard, but it was taken away," said Salem Billard, the queer activist who organized the protest. “We live in so much violence right now that we even attend Pride events… and make that place our home, not a corporate celebration [event].
It would have been impossible to save this event because so many people had to be hired and trained in just a few hours.
"This event requires a lot of preparation. It's not simple. We felt we couldn't guarantee a safe parade for the community." he said.
When asked how the cancellation would affect his future as director of Montreal, executive of his Pride, Gamash said, "It's not for me to decide." I was.
"I want to stay. I was hired last September to reorganize this organization, but it will take several years," he said.