Montreal – The streets in downtown Montreal are as green as clockwork on Sunday, and its annual St. Patrick’s Day parade celebrates the 200th anniversary of the country’s new prime minister’s presence.
Mark Carney marched at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Montreal, his first public event since being sworn in on Friday.
Several Quebec-based cabinet ministers whom Carney shook hands joined him and waved thousands gathered along the parade routes in the heart of the city.
He walked the entire route over two kilometers along De Maisonneuve Boulevard, often turning to the crowd to shake hands and take photos.
Carney is one of dozens of local, provincial and federal politicians. Many cheered for him and shouted “Canada!” as he walked. Carney also celebrated his 60th birthday, with some of his revelers in the crowd happy birthday.
Nearly 120 groups of the celebration organized by the Montreal United Association are expected to be part of the celebration, with 3,000 people expected to attend, compared with about 90 groups and 2,500 participants last year.
“Everyone’s Irish today,” said Lauren Tracey, a spokesman for the group. “We know that over 40% of Quebecs have Irish heritage, so I think it’s just a question of how diverse we as a community, how we all come together as a community to participate in this event, and how important that is.”
Organizers said the first march was held in 1824 and was rarely cancelled, most recently due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
The Prime Minister’s presence in St-Patrick’s green floats, dancers, bands, musicians and parades is the last moment.
“He was just sworn in on Friday, so that’s not something we knew early on, but everyone was great and we were glad he showed his support and his involvement made us very proud,” Tracy said.
In the crowd, Allison Morris said she brings her children to celebrate their Irish every year.
“It’s just a community, you know, everyone is coming together, one person, everyone is happy, everyone is celebrating the same thing here, no worries, no problem,” she said.
Edwin McCarthy is from Nevada, but says he loves where he goes every year on St. Patrick’s.
“So we decided on Montreal this year,” McCarthy said. “I just like it because it’s celebrating Irish culture, so it’s celebrating part of my legacy.”
There was also a march in Toronto on Sunday, starting at noon at St. George and Brewer Street West (St.
Caroline Mulroney, President of Ontario and Minister of French Affairs, served as the Grand Marshal of the Toronto Parade.
Event organizers noted that her father, the late former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, was an active member of the Irish community in Montreal and served as the Grand Marshal of the city’s St. Patrick parade in 1980.
This report by Canadian media was first released on March 16, 2025.
– Files with Coralie Laplante from Montreal and Sammy Hudes from Toronto.
Sidhartha Banerjee of Canadian Media
