CELEBRATION COMES TO LIGHT
The Jacques Cartier Bridge came to life Wednesday night with a Moment Factory light show that wowed thousands of spectators. The event capped a jam-packed day honouring Montreal’s 375th birthday.
Montreal kicked off its 375thanniversary party with pomp and ceremony on Wednesday, marking the day in 1642 when French missionaries started the colony initially known as Ville Marie.
The day began early, with the arrival of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Philippe Couillard, at city hall.
Then, at 8:45 a.m., across the city, the churches of the Archdiocese of Montreal rang their bells to commemorate the city’s founding.
Joined by Mayor Denis Coderre, Trudeau and Couillard walked from city hall to Notre-Dame Basilica for a 9 a.m. commemorative mass, attended by several hundred people. Afterward, an homage to the city’s founders, Paul de Chomedey and Jeanne Mance, was held in Place-d’Armes.
It featured drumming and singing by Mohawk performers and a performance by the École supérieure de ballet du Québec.
Coderre paid tribute to those whose lands on which Montreal was founded.
“We have a duty to remember and recognize the native people, who’ve also suffered over the centuries of this grand European migration and who have contributed to the edification of society that we live in, and who continue to contribute today,” Coderre told the audience gathered in Place-d’Armes.
Coderre said that’s why the city recognizes that it is on unceded Iroquois territory.
“On this day to mark our 375th anniversary, we cannot rewrite history, but we can certainly contribute to the reconciliation between our peoples,” he said.
Speaking to reporters earlier, Couillard said he thinks “the founders would have been very proud of what Montreal ... has become — a wonderful city that we’re celebrating today.
“It’s a very interesting and dynamic society that’s still around and still kicking and active.”
Trudeau said his birthday wish for Montreal is another 375 years of diversity, pride and openness.
He said he is proud to be a Montrealer even though he was born in Ottawa. His father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, made it clear where the family came from.
“I grew up in Ottawa, I was born in Ottawa, but my father was a Montrealer and he would bring us here quite regularly,” he said.
“He would tell us, ‘No, you live in Ottawa but you’re Montrealers. You just don’t really know it yet.’
“So when I arrived here at the age of 13 after my father left politics, it was like coming home.”
At about 6 p.m., about 3,000 police officers gathered outside their headquarters on Laurier Blvd. They wanted to disrupt the inauguration of the new lighting system on the Jacques Cartier Bridge.
But at 9:45 p.m., the lighting of the bridge went off as planned as thousands of Montrealers gathered peacefully to watch the spectacle.