Montreal to direct remaining Pride funds to independent investigation into parade 'fiasco': mayor
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante says the city will redirect the remaining funds contracted to Fierte Montreal toward an independent investigation into why the flagship Pride parade was cancelled just hours before it was set to start.
The mayor outlined the plan during an interview with Natasha Hall and Aaron Rand on CJAD's Montreal Now broadcast, calling the cancellation a "fiasco."
"There is a trust link that needs to be re-established," she said. "Let's be honest, what happened on Sunday had an impact on Montreal's reputation."
The independent investigation, which the mayor said wants to be completed as soon as possible, will be separate from Fierte Montreal's internal inquiry. The person who will lead the probe will be announced by the end of the week, the mayor's political party said in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
"There seems to be a lot of mixed information," she told CJAD, adding that neither her administration nor Montreal police heard anything from the organization to suggest the event wouldn't happen.
According to its 2020 to 2022 budget, the city pledged $600,000 in funds to Fierte Montreal, the organization in charge of planning Pride events.
She told CJAD that money has mostly already been paid. However, the last remaining installment of roughly 10 per cent will instead go towards the investigation.
However, the money which has already been spent will not be recalled, noted the mayor.
"All the other events during the week happened," she said. "It was a success until Sunday."
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
RECOMMENDATIONS COMING FOR NEXT YEAR, BUT NO PARADE BEFORE THEN
"I think it's in the chain of command that something happened," she added, saying that a communication breakdown likely occurred after "many things happened."
"We will name the [responsible] person very fast. This cannot wait for long. It has to happen now," she said, adding that the independent investigation will end in a set of recommendations to ensure next year's Pride parade can continue as normal.
However, this year's parade won't be rescheduled before then.
Listen to the full interview
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.