A huge celebration planned to celebrate Toronto’s 191st birthday has been postponed due to labour unrest.
Originally planned to take place on Saturday, March 8, the Celebrate Toronto Festival promised to bring a huge, free festival to the heart of downtown to honour both the city and its residents.
Among the festivities, the Celebrate Toronto Festival was set to include a large “Toronto Made” market comprised of over 100 stalls from local businesses, food and drink from local restaurants, breweries and distillers and an awe-inspiring firework display to cap it all off.
That is until Feb. 19, when, according to Celebrate Toronto, the festival’s organizers, the city received notice that city workers had set a legal strike deadline of 12:01 on Saturday, March 8 — overlapping exactly with the festival.
This past January, CUPE Local 79, who represents a large number of city workers spanning sectors such as child and long term care, employment and social services, recreation programming and water and food inspection, announced that the union had voted largely in favour of striking.
At the time, union president Nas Yadollahi told reporters that over 90 per cent of members had voted in favour of the strike, with wage increases at the centre of their requests.
For Celebrate Toronto, the strike would mean the loss of necessary logistical support that allows the event to operate “safely and efficiently,” according to a release on the rescheduling.
“If a strike or lockout occurs, the essential event services and support that we depend on will not be available,” it reads.
With the number of vendors, artists and performers involved tallying up to around 150, not to mention the volunteers and workers involved in running the festival, Celebrate Toronto says they “cannot risk a last-minute cancellation or disruption with minimal notice.”
“To ensure a smooth experience for everyone, we need to plan ahead,” the release states.
It’s not all bad news, though; you’ll still get the chance to wish Toronto a happy birthday in the near future.
As of now, the celebration has been rescheduled to take place from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 5.
Hey, just look at it this way: by happening a month later, you may even run the chance of getting some good weather for it, too!
