Cold freezes out plans for live New Year’s Eve performances on Parliament Hill
OTTAWA — Some New Year’s Eve plans across the country are being put on ice thanks to a long-lasting cold snap not expected to break until early next week.
What’s projected to be one of the coldest New Year’s Eves in Ottawa in nearly two decades saw organizers of the party on Parliament Hill announce Friday they’re scaling back the event, cancelling live music performances but keeping a fireworks display and light show.
Heritage Minister Melanie Joly said while Canadians were able to manage all the snow that fell around last New Year’s Eve to ring in Canada 150, this year the cold was proving to be too much. According to Environment Canada, the forecast for Sunday evening is -27 Celsius.
“Of course it’s a bit of a disappointment with this extreme cold weather but we have to deal with it and making sure that Canadians are safe and everything is well taken care of in terms of public health we decided to modify the celebrations,” Joly said in an interview.