Amid mounting controversy over police participation in pride events across the country, a Toronto city councillor is calling for a municipal donation to Canada's largest Pride parade to be cut after the event banned police floats from future festivities.
Coun. John Campbell said about half a dozen councillors so far agree that Pride Toronto's annual grant request, expected in April, should be voted down until the city's Pride parade returns to its "core principals of equity and inclusivity."
"It doesn't sit right with me and with other councillors that we issue this grant in view of the position that they've taken with respect to the police force," he said Tuesday. "We need a certain level of equity and inclusivity attached to the issuance of grants for organizations."
In a surprise move at its annual general meeting in January, Pride Toronto adopted a list of demands issued by the Toronto chapter of Black Lives Matter, including banning police floats from the parade.
Members of the anti-racism activist group held a sit in part way through the city's annual Pride parade last July, stopping it from moving forward for about a half hour, until Pride organizers signed the list of demands. Black Lives Matter said it opposed police presence in the parade because it could discourage marginalized communities from participating.
"Black Lives Matter bullied Pride into making a decision that I don't think was in the best interests of the city," Campbell said.
The decision to comply with Black Lives Matter's demands was panned by some as a significant setback for police and LGBTQ relations.
In February, Toronto's police chief announced that his force would not be participating in the annual event this year. Chief Mark Saunders pointed to divisions within the LGBTQ community as the primary reason for his decision.
In Vancouver, where police have marched in that city's pride parade since 2002, officers have been asked to show up in fewer numbers and leave their uniforms at home.
The Vancouver Pride Society made the request last month after the local chapter of Black Lives Matter asked the Vancouver Police Department to voluntarily withdraw from the march as "a show of solidarity and understanding'" because the presence of uniformed officers makes some minority groups feel unsafe.
Meanwhile, Halifax Regional Police said in early February that after considering the "national debate" about police involvement in such events, it would pull out of this year's Halifax Pride parade.