Cancellation of Haitian Flag Day festival in Montreal North: police, community group present conflicting versions

A community group in Montreal North says police are responsible for the cancellation of the neighbourhood’s annual Haitian Flag Day festival — something the SPVM is refuting.

The Café jeunesse multiculturel de Montréal-Nord (CJM) alleges local police station #39 issued an advisory regarding the safety of the northeast sector of Montreal North, for the intersection of Pascal and Lapierre streets, where the organization is located.

But Montreal police tell CityNews in a statement that’s not accurate. “No safety advisory has been issued for any area of ​​Montreal North. This is not an SPVM practice,” SPVM spokesperson Mélanie Bergeron wrote in an email.

The CJM also alleges authorities refused to participate in the event — which would have taken place this past Sunday — and claims police stated they would not ensure the security of the area during the festival.

That’s something authorities are also denying, saying the police station never received a request from the CJM to “collaborate in the Haitian Flag Day celebration.”

“It is not the SPVM’s responsibility to authorize or cancel an event taking place in a public space,” Bergeron wrote.

“Maintaining ties with our community partners and the public is a priority for the SPVM. Neighbourhood police station #39 is part of Montreal North’s community life, and its team is committed to this.”

Haitian Flag Day festival had been held every year since 2009.

“The borough had already approved the event, recognizing that the festival, after 15 years of existence, has become an essential part of community life. But given the hostile police environment, it was impossible for the CJM to organize the festival this year,” says Slim Hammami, a coordinator at the CJM.

“Although police intervention has not been necessary in the past, the organization cannot invite the community into a space that is effectively removed from SPVM territory: a space for which the police refuse to assume responsibility.”

A group of six university researchers is working in partnership with the CJM. One of the researchers, Ted Rutland of Concordia University, says the alleged decision is part of a broader problem.

“In recent years, we have witnessed an intensification of a public discourse on Montreal North and the northeast of the city, in which young people in these areas are presented as a source of danger to the population,” he said.

“This discourse has the effect, today as in the past, of presenting the problems experienced by the population in terms of crime and the solution in terms of increased repression — via the police and other institutions. One of the many harmful effects of this discourse occurred earlier this year, when the SPVM announced that Flag Day constituted a threat to public safety.”

Flag Day in the borough has been organized annually by the CJM, in collaboration with young people and residents of Montreal North, and was born in a context of tensions.

It came after the death of Fredy Villanueva — the Montreal teenager that was killed by a police officer on Aug. 9, 2008.

The CJM says the death marked a turning point for the community where residents and youth came together in many ways and organized a Haitian Flag Day in the neighbourhood.

They says the event brings together approximately 3,000 people from not only the neighbourhood but also other boroughs of Montreal. Over the past 16 years, they add that no incidents have been reported during Flag Day.

“This celebration is truly a tool for transformation that we use with the community. Young people get involved, they transform their neighborhood, they gain a sense of self-worth through this event. The neighborhood is uplifted, and people feel a sense of pride,” said Roberson Berlus, a street worker with Café-Jeunesse Multiculturel.

In a statement to CityNews, representatives of the Montreal North borough say: “As part of its prerogatives, the borough confirms that it has given an agreement in principle to the organization, by the Café jeunesse multiculturel, of a Haitian flag celebration in 2025. It issued this notice as it would have done for any request to hold an event that complies with the prescribed regulations (in particular with regard to the cooking of food, noise, the safe layout of the premises, etc.) as well as the criteria of its collaboration agreement with its partner organizations.”

In another statement, the SPVM said to CityNews, “No safety advisory has been issued regarding any area of Montréal North. […] Furthermore, Neighbourhood Station 39 has not received any request from the organization to collaborate on the Haitian Flag Day celebration.”

“With the SPVM, we usually sit down together and communicate. They never called us, even though we know them. We found out through the borough, who told us, ‘Here’s the situation—now it’s up to you, Café Jeunesse Multiculturel,” said Slim Himmami, coordinator with Café-Jeunesse Multiculturel.

“Do you want to go ahead with it or not?’ And under those conditions, we chose not to go ahead with it because we believe we all need to work together, and when there’s a player as important as the SPVM and Neighbourhood Station 39, we can’t organize an event of that magnitude without them.”