A statement from SICDAQ spokesperson and vice-president Gemma Raeburn-Baynes, and president 

Byron Cameron:

Leaders of Quebec's Grenadian diaspora community, officially represented by the Spice Island Cultural Day Association of Quebec (SICDAQ), would like to update the community on discussions with Montreal police (SPVM) and City of Montreal officials following heavy police presences at Greenz Restaurant in Ville St. Pierre on June 24 and July 9 during festival events.

We are pleased to report that a meeting led by SPVM Deputy Chief Inspector Miguël Alston and Mr. Cameron took place on Tuesday evening at the Centre de ressources communautaires Côte-des-Neiges, organized by our friend Fo Niemi of Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR).

Mr. Alston was accompanied by Commander Michel Lebrun, head of Police Station 8; Commander David Paradis, head of the ECLIPS section and Manon Vouligny, advisor with the Prevention and Urban Security Division.

It was a productive evening and our organization's leaders felt heard. While both organizations may differ in their views of some aspects of the events, all agreed that better communication in the future will ensure a normal police presence at future Spice Island festival events.

The problem of systemic discrimination can manifest in many different forms and as community leaders, it is our duty to always keep the lines of communication open between us and the institutions we interact with. It is the institutions' responsibility to hear us out, and we feel the SPVM has lived up to that duty. We are confident that next year's festival events will go forward without incident.

Please share our festival content on Facebook or your favourite social media platform. You can watch festival highlights from various events on this page or via our YouTube channel. We would encourage you to stay in touch, leave your feedback and get involved to ensure the success of next summer's Spice Island Cultural Festival, tentatively scheduled for the weekend of July 8, 2023.