Local news media representatives have been invited to La Ronde for a press conference to be held tomorrow morning. Published on CNW feed, the press release states that a study about the impact of fireworks on air quality will be released. The study was done by Montreal-based engineering company AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin) and appears to be a reaction to recurring controversies on this issue which, combined with massive forest fires, led to the cancellation of the opening show of the 37th edition of Montreal international fireworks competition in June 2023.

The invitation comes from the “Regroupement des événements pyrotechniques du Québec” and the Canadian Pyrotechnic Council. The former seems to be a new organization. I was unable to find any website or Facebook page related to this regroupement. Sophie Émond, president of La Ronde, is named in the press release as its spokesperson. In contrast, the Canadian Pyrotechnic Council is established since a long time. According to the website of that organization, the technical director of the Montreal competition - Paul Csukassy - is a member of its executive committee and its treasurer.

The press conference is organized by National, one of the leading public relations firm in Canada. I do suspect that public reactions to this study, especially from local political figures, may be important for the future of the competition. All this happens only two weeks after the fall of the Just for Laughs festival. The lost of a second major event would certainly damage the Montreal branding as the “city of festivals.”

Also, the press conference is scheduled exactly 3 months before the potential start date - June 27 - of the 38th edition of the competition, which I posted in this thread in late January.

https://www.newswire.ca/fr/news-releases/invitation-medias-regroupemen t-des-evenements-pyrotechniques-du-quebec-et-le-conseil-pyrotechnique- canadien-presentation-d-une-etude-sur-l-impact-des-feux-d-artifice-sur -la-qualite-de-l-air-855416633.html

Fred

Here's a translated version: https://www-newswire-ca.translate.goog/fr/news-releases/devoilement-d- une-nouvelle-etude-sur-l-impact-des-spectacles-pyrotechniques-sur-la-q ualite-de-l-air-809846174.html?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_ tr_pto=wapp

Basically, there is no impact on overall air quality and the CO2 produced by a typical display is equivalent to 1 car doing a round trip from Montreal to Trois Rivieres and back.

Paul

Great article by Mylene: https://lesartsze.com/feux-dartifice-une-perception-erronee

From https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/impact-limited-fireworks-industry-releases -report-on-impact-to-air-quality-1.6824824

There will still be eight 30-minute displays throughout the summer, but they'll only be able to use fireworks for 25 minutes.

The rest of the show will be filled with lasers.