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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Storage shed or shipping container? B.C. Supreme Court settles long-running bylaw dispute
A long-running dispute over whether a structure on a Surrey property violates a city bylaw that prohibits shipping containers on residential lots has been settled by the B.C. Supreme Court