Doug Ford won't be attending Toronto's Pride Parade this June

Jun 3 2019, 11:07 pm

Premier Doug Ford will not be attending Toronto’s Pride celebrations.

According to a statement from Ford’s office, “Premier Ford has always said he will attend Toronto’s Pride Parade when our front-line police officers are allowed to participate in uniform.”

Earlier this year, in a very close vote, Toronto Pride decided against allowing police from participating in the upcoming Pride Parade.

This news in January came amidst a rocky relationship between Toronto Pride and local police, which resulted in officers being banned from marching in the annual event the last two years.

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In 2017, Pride Toronto announced it would be banning uniformed police officers from the parade due to conflicts with activists with the local chapter of Black Lives Matter.

Then in April of 2018, the Toronto Police were asked to withdraw their application to march in the 2018 parade after event organizers said the presence of uniformed officers would make members of the LGBT2Q+ community feel unsafe.

And this past fall, police were granted permission to march in the 2019 Pride parade, but that was again changed in January.

As for Ford, “he wishes all the organizers of Pride Toronto all the best for a successful month and festival weekend.”

The Pride Parade takes place in Toronto on June 23.

DH Toronto StaffDH Toronto Staff

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