Montreal has cancelled the annual Canada Day parade less than two weeks before the national celebration.
According to Nicolas Cowen, the organizer of the annual Canada Day parade in the city, the decision to cancel the event is due to issues with red tape surrounding all of the licenses he needs, as well as a lack of volunteer and security involvement, which has made putting on the parade “virtually impossibly”.
He further said that most of the blame can be levied at the City of Montreal for needlessly convoluted regulations, singling out “difficulties with local government leaders, as well as excessive construction downtown.
“There’s too much red tape,” he explained, adding, “At this point, I’ve decided not to go ahead.”
He also stated that he encountered similar issues last year.
“I thought it was directed at me alone first because of politics. I needed outside help from the offices of different elected officials in different levels of government to make the parade go last year,” Cowen said.
In a press release, Cowen added, “These cancellations and mishaps of events hurt business owners and their employees. When customers and tourists do not even come, your business’ and jobs ultimately suffer.”
The City’s leader of the opposition, Aref Salem, stated the cancellation of Canada Day parade was indicative of more systemic problems with the current Montreal city council, with the entire process of acquiring permits becoming increasingly slow.
“Instead of facilitating permits in the city, we’re just making life harder, and this is unacceptable,” Salem said in an interview with Global News. “It’s a problem.”
While there will be no parade in Quebec’s most populous city, some Canada Day events can still be found at Montreal’s Old Port.
