A year after a last-minute cancellation that caused a stir, the Pride Parade will take place on Sunday afternoon in downtown Montreal. Thousands of marchers are expected, as are a number of political figures.
The parade, which promotes the rights and demands of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, will start at 1 p.m. on René-Lévesque Boulevard, at the corner of Metcalfe Street, and end at the Village.
Fierté Montréal said at the end of July that it expected more than 15,000 people to take part in the parade, while 180 contingents confirmed their attendance.
The parade closes the 17th edition of the Fierté Montréal festival, which began on Aug. 3.
A number of politicians have confirmed their attendance at the event, including several elected representatives of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ): Martine Biron, Pascale Déry, Christian Dubé, Geneviève Guilbault, Ian Lafrenière and Chantal Rouleau.
The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, Parti Québécois MNA Pascal Bérubé, and Quebec Solidaire (QS) co-spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois will also be present at the parade. QS will also be represented by MNAs Haroun Bouazzi, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard and Alejandra Zaga Mendez.
Manon Massé, co-spokesperson for QS, announced on Friday that she will unfortunately be unable to take part in Pride activities, as she is recovering from heart surgery.
As for the federal government, ministers Pascale St-Onge and Steven Guilbeault of the Liberal Party will be on hand. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is on holiday in British Columbia, cannot be there.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Alexandre Boulerice, the party's MP for Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie, will also be taking part in the parade.
Several members of the Bloc Québécois caucus will also be taking part: Andréanne Larouche, Monique Pauzé, Mario Beaulieu, Gabriel Ste-Marie and Luc Désilets.
Last year's Pride Parade was cancelled with just a few hours' notice, initially justified by the organizers as "a lack of volunteers." Instead, it was a misunderstanding between two of the organization's employees that led to the cancellation of the parade concerning the impossibility of holding the event when Fierté Montréal had forgotten to hire security officers, an investigation revealed in October 2022.
Disappointed parade-goers took part in citizens' marches and other spontaneously organized events.
At a press conference at the end of July, Fierté Montréal promised that "everything is in place" for the parade to take place this year. To avoid another cancellation, the organization has reviewed its mode of governance and operations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Aug. 13, 2023.
