Trudeau, Irish PM march in Montreal Pride parade

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took part in Montreal’s Pride parade on Sunday afternoon, alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

The Irish leader is in Canada for a three-day visit, which began with a military welcome ceremony.

The counterparts are expected to hold meetings to discuss issues relating to diversity and inclusion as well as the Canada-Europe Free-Trade agreement.

Trudeau’s office says the event marked the first time a foreign head of government has joined a prime minister in a Canadian Pride parade.

The procession made its way east along Réné-Lévesque Boulevard, from Drummond Street to Alexandre-DeSève Street in the Village. Revellers were then invited to Parc des Faubourgs for a dance party and closing show featuring Manny at 10:30 p.m.

READ MORE: Security increased for Montreal Pride parade in wake of global attacks

This year’s parade is the largest ever held in the city with 7,000 artists and performers entertaining the crowds.

“We went from 14 floats to 25 floats this year,” Montreal Pride vice-president Jean-Sebastien Boudreault told Global News in an interview last week.

WATCH BELOW: Canada Pride celebrations in Montreal

3:51 Canada Pride celebration

He added that this edition of pride was all about celebrating milestones.

“We’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Confederation, the 375th anniversary of Montreal, we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the universal exhibition and the 35 years of the Gay Village,” he said. “So it’s a crazy year, it’s an amazing year.”

READ MORE: City of Montreal apologizes to LGBTQ community for past police treatment

For Boudreault though, Pride is about more than celebrating, it’s about giving back.

“We won a lot of battles the LGBTQ community. We were very lucky, but there is still a lot to be done and now we need to focus on the minority within the LGBTQ community,” he said.

“The Indigenous People, the people of colour, the trans people — they are the ones who still need our support to make sure they have greater equality, greater rights, that we achieve for them what we achieved for the lesbians and the gays.”

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The parade kicked off at noon.

— With files from The Canadian Press