Canada Day parade in Montreal cancelled, ‘political divide’ to blame

The annual Canada Day parade in Montreal has been cancelled less than two weeks before the event, due to alleged bureaucratic issues between the organizer and the city.

The event’s organizer, Nicholas Cowen, claims “difficulties with local government leaders” were to blame when trying to coordinate the July 1 parade that’s been held since 1977.

Cowen issued a statement Wednesday on the parade’s website saying he’s seen “escalating difficulty when securing permits, funding, and overarching approval from the appropriate government authorities.”

“I thought it was directed at me alone first because of politics. I needed outside help from the offices of different elected officials in different levels of government to make the parade go last year,” Cowen said.

Cowen said he has been met with rules that change at the last moment and requests that make putting on the parade “virtually impossible.”

“These cancellations and mishaps of events hurt business owners and their employees,” he said in the press release. “When customers and tourists do not even come, your business’ and jobs ultimately suffer.”

Cowen claims that last year, the federal government requested parts of the parade be removed entirely and reduced their budget significantly.

The City of Montreal issued CityNews with a statement saying the developer had not submitted a request to the city though they remain available to work with him in the future.

In the statement, a spokesperson for the City of Montreal said: “Last year’s parade faced significant logistical challenges that the city had to overcome to ensure that the event took place.”

The parade is usually held on Ste-Catherine Street in downtown Montreal and typically draws a crowd of about 120,000 people.

In the release, Cowen said organizers of immigrant or English-speaking based events had also experienced issues when dealing with the City of Montreal.

“From what I experienced last year and when I see badly timed mishaps at big international events, the West Island and other events, I become less surprised.”

Cowen says the loss of this year’s event is “no doubt a strike on Canadian Culture.”

It’s not yet known if the event will take place next year, though Cowen says he remains hopeful. The City says Montrealers will be able to take part in Canada Day festivities in the Old Port.