MONTREAL — Canada Day celebrations are making a return after two years of scaled-down festivities because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but some Canadians hoping to catch a traditional parade may be out of luck.
Several cities say the rising cost of security and insurance, in addition to troubles securing funding, is forcing them to rethink their celebrations.
In Montreal, there will be no Canada Day parade for the third year running, and this time COVID-19 is only partly to blame.
Organizer Nicholas Cowen says that while the novel coronavirus is a major concern, the federal Heritage Department offered less funding in a year when inflation is at its highest level in decades.
“The parade receives a grant so it is very much like receiving a check for the same amount every year,” he wrote in an email. “This year the funding was to go back to 2015 levels at 2022 prices.”
The parade’s executive director, Caroline Polcsak, explained in an interview that the price of insurance has increased along with almost everything else — down to the ingredients of the large, traditional cake that is served to the public. She said corporate sponsors are hard to get because parades cannot offer tax receipts.
“For the parade, this means less money, higher prices,” Cowen wrote.
Instead, Canada Day celebrations in Montreal will take place at the Old Port, where events will include face painting, games, cake and a concert.
Heritage Canada did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Montreal is not the only city where Canada Day organizers are blaming the rising cost of insurance and security for cancelled parades.
In Strathcona County, Alta., the Sherwood Park and District Chamber of Commerce announced in May that the Canada Day parade would not take place.
“Unfortunately, our success coupled with the many recent incidents at other parades in Canada and the United States has significantly increased the risks associated with parades and the onus on the event organizers,” executive director Todd Banks wrote in a message.
Banks said, “The costs of physical infrastructure, insurance and security obligations have now grown beyond our capabilities when considering all the monetary and volunteer requirements.”
Last year, six people were killed and dozens injured after a man is alleged to have deliberately driven his SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis. And in Toronto in 2019, four people were injured after shots rang out at a parade celebrating the Raptors’ NBA championship win.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which cancelled that city’s Canada Day parade in 2018 over rising prices, announced this year it would neither host a parade nor present a fireworks display, citing “rising costs for safety and security, and across the events industry,” adding that it would instead focus on other events.
Banff, Alta., made the decision to replace its parade with a day of activities and performances.
On its website, the city mentioned several factors for replacing its parade: a desire for less crowding during the pandemic; the advantage of being able to offer performers staggered time slots; a reduction in the use of fossil fuel-powered vehicles; and staffing challenges that have “affected the town’s ability to move all barriers and planters for a one-hour event.”
Last year, many cities opted to cancel Canada Day events after the discovery of unmarked graves at sites of former residential schools. While most events are resuming this year, some cities, such as Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, have chosen to observe Canada Day with cultural programming rather than celebratory events such as parades and fireworks.
The cancellation of Montreal’s parade came months after the death of Roopnarine Singh, a Trinidad-born doctor who organized the city’s first Canada Day parade in 1978 with just a handful of vehicles after being dismayed there was no celebration to mark his adopted country’s birthday.
In an interview in 2017, Singh recalled years of fighting to secure funding for the event, occasionally becoming a thorn in the side of political leaders who didn’t want to anger the province’s separatist faction in the years surrounding the two referendums.
Cowen said Singh, who died in March, had hoped to be in Montreal this summer for the parade. Polcsak said he undoubtedly would have been “upset” to see the event he fought for so hard cancelled.
Both organizers say they’re working hard to secure the funding they need to bring back the parade next year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2022.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.
Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”
The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.
King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”
SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.
The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.
Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.
Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”
He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.
In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says as classrooms get overwhelmed with new grade school students, her government will fast-track new school builds with $8.6 billion over the next three years.
In a televised address Tuesday evening, Smith said the province’s existing budget isn’t enough to keep up with rapid population growth in kindergarten to Grade 12 schools.
“This is quite literally the fastest and largest build our province can manage given available construction workforce capacity and the time it takes to permit, prepare and service available school sites,” said Smith.
The province’s population grew by more than 200,000 people in the last fiscal year.
The premier said often the only thing holding back the cash is school boards getting projects ready for construction.
“If you can prepare the sites, the province will have the dollars set aside to get shovels in the ground,” said Smith.
The government is changing the process of approving construction funding so school boards don’t need to wait every year for the next budget cycle to get the go-ahead.
Previously approved school projects that are now in the planning and design stages could move forward to the next stage as soon as they are ready.
Smith’s announcement comes as the province’s two largest divisions, Edmonton Public Schools and the Calgary Board of Education, say their schools are expected to have a utilization rate of well over 90 per cent this school year, with some schools hitting capacity.
The addition of some $6.5 billion in capital funding would be a significant boost to what was budgeted in February.
Budget 2024 originally earmarked $1.9 billion in capital funding over the next three years for planning, design or construction of new and modernized school projects across the province.
In the summer, the government promised an added $215 million for school boards, including $90 million towards 100 more modular classrooms that are expected to be delivered by the end of the calendar year.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told The Canadian Press that yearly budget numbers will vary under the new plan because different projects will be able to move forward at different times, but it will mean schools get built as quickly as possible.
“That (new) process will help make sure that it doesn’t take five, six years for schools to get built,” he said.
Smith said she expects the construction could lead to about 50,000 new student spaces over the next three years, and 12,500 new charter school student spaces over the next four years.
Smith also used her television address to take a swipe at Ottawa, accusing Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of “unrestrained” border policies.
Smith said historically high immigration levels – especially for those with temporary visas – is exacerbating housing shortages and challenging education, health and other social services infrastructure.
“Alberta has always welcomed newcomers who possess our shared values – and we will continue to do so,” said Smith, explaining her definition of shared values.
“Welcoming those who believe in working hard, protecting our freedoms, contributing to society, following the rule of law, and who have a deep respect for other cultures and faiths different from their own, have long been a strength of our provincial culture and history.”
Smith called for “more sensible and restrained” policies but did not provide details.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
