This year's Haitian Flag Day festivities didn't happen in Montréal-Nord. Organizers want answers
CBC
Residents and workers at a Montréal-Nord community organization are seeking clarity after they say they felt the need to cancel the borough's annual Haitian Flag Day celebration.
The event, which has been held in May every year since 2009 in the heart of the borough, was cancelled for the first time last weekend.
The organizer, Café-Jeunesse Multiculturel, says it was informed by the borough that police did not want to provide security services, citing safety concerns for the area.
But Roberson Berlus, a youth worker with the organization, says nothing has ever gone wrong during the festivities.
He added that the free celebration offers various spaces for youth to play, as well as DJ sets, food and shows featuring Haitian artists.
Although the event highlights the Haitian flag and culture, Berlus noted that it attracts over 3,000 people from different ethnic communities. Some even travel from other parts of the province, Ontario and the U.S. to attend.
"That's really a bad thing for us because, yes, it's Haitian Flag Day, but it's everyone who participates," he said.
Without the police presence they had every year prior, organizers decided to not go ahead with the festivities. Ultimately, the group reluctantly opted to cancel.
Berlus emphasized that Montreal police are part of the community and should be present on that day, alongside everyone else.
"We've been doing that since 2009, nothing ever happened. Why is it dangerous now?" he said.
In a statement sent to CBC, Montreal police, known by its French acronym SPVM, said no safety notice had been issued for any sector of Montréal-Nord.
The SPVM said it had not received a request from the organization to assign officers to Haitian Flag Day and it is "not up to the SPVM to authorize or cancel an event taking place in the public space."
Police added the borough had not made a request neither, something the borough confirmed in a statement of its own to CBC News.
"The SPVM has not received a 'request for collaboration' or 'authorization,' simply because neither the borough nor the organization is required to file such a request," wrote borough spokesperson Daniel Bussières.
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