Rosemont family event Shake La Cabane cancelled after pricing policy backlash

A community centre in Montreal's Rosemont neighbourhood cancelled a family event that was meant to take place Sunday after its pricing policy sparked a heated debate. White people would have paid a premium to attend the Shake La Cabane party.

The cost of a ticket for the dance party was $15 for adults who are Black, Indigenous, or people of colour (BIPOC) — but the price jumped close to $26 for white adults.

While racialized youth under 12 could attent for free, their white peers under 18 would have paid $13.

The event's organizers posted on Instagram and Facebook Saturday night that they had cancelled the event after their team was flooded with hateful and "threatening" comments, and that they will refund all ticket holders. 

"We received SO much hate and misunderstanding about our BIPOC ticket pricing, that for the safety and security of all, we prefer to stay on the safe side with this one," they posted on Facebook. "We really regret this situation and are so deeply disappointed."

In an Instagram post, they defended the controversial pricing policy, saying it was meant to encourage the inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds and favour accessibility.

"One of La Cabane's core values is to create a sense of belonging for all families, whatever their cultural or socio-economic background. In fact, since 2019, La Cabane has been offering a sliding fee scale based on family income, for the activities in its own programming," they posted on Instagram.

Shake La Cabane accepted to reciprocate that scale in their next event, instead of the BIPOC scale they initiated in September, said La Cabane.

Lawyer Julius Grey said the pricing policy was not only discriminatory, but unlawful.

"This flies in the face of the Quebec Charter. Now, all of the charters have exceptions for affirmative action...but this is not one of them," Grey added.

University of Laval law professor Louis-Phillipe Lampron also says it’s a clear cut case of direct discrimination, though the organizers might have a legal justification.

He said Quebec’s charter allows some non-profits dedicated to the welfare of particular groups to justify certain forms of discrimination.

But the fact that the event was a public party makes it difficult to do so, he added.

The organizers originally said on Instagram, "we looked around and were not satisfied with the diversity of our parties."

They quoted a U.S.-based group using the same strategy, saying, "micro-reparations in the name of solidarity, not charity, like these stand to gesture towards ways we can create more access."

But the political backlash was swift.

Mathieu Lacombe, Quebec’s culture minister wrote on X, "this is completely unacceptable."

Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said, "[this] now opens to the door to laws and social programs that would apply by racial group, again increasing tensions and finger-pointing."