Following months of a heated dispute, Toronto police say it will not participate in the city’s Pride Parade this year.
In a written statement released shortly after 9 a.m. on Friday, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said the decision was made to allow the LGBTQ communities to address their differences.
He said the service will continue to hold the annual Pride reception.
“We have made great strides with the LGBTQ communities. It’s an inclusive relationship I’m proud of and I know the men and women of the Service feel the same way,” Chief Mark Saunders said in the statement.
“We understand the LGBTQ communities are divided. To enable those differences to be addressed, I have decided the Toronto Police Service will not participate, this year, in the Pride Parade.”
Saunders reiterated his commitment to continuing to strengthen the Toronto Police Service’s relationship with the LGBTQ communities.
“I want to make it very clear that this will have no impact on our ongoing outreach to LGBTQ communities. We will continue to develop respectful relationships and build new ones, focusing on those who feel marginalized, with the trans and racialized communities,” he said.
“I will sit down with any group who feels marginalized, who comes to the table with ideas on how to make things better.”
“We have come a long way,” he continued. “We have much to do.”
Police ban came in BLM demands
Last year, Black Lives Matter- Toronto disrupted the city’s Pride Parade for about 30 minutes with a sit-in protest where members presented the now former Pride Toronto Executive Director Mathieu Chantelois with a list of demands. One of those demands called for Pride organizers to ban police floats and booths at future parades and marches.
Members of BLM previously accused Pride Toronto of implementing a number of “anti-black policies” and called on them to address “a number of attacks to the black queer and trans community.”
At the time, Chantelois committed to the demands but he later backtracked, maintaining that that he only agreed to have a conversation about the issues raised by BLM members. He also said he did not agree with excluding police floats from the parade.
Following Chantelois’ resignation about a month later, Pride Toronto’s board of directors issued an apology for allowing a “history of anti-blackness and repeated marginalization of the marginalized” and for its role in “deepening the divisions of our community.”
Last month, Pride Toronto members voted at Pride Toronto’s AGM meeting to adopt all of BLM’s demands.
Saunders calls decision an 'opportunity'
Speaking to CP24 on Friday morning, Saunders said the dialogue about whether or not TPS will participate in the parade has been a “distraction” to a larger issue he aims to address through this decision.
“The one message that is loud and clear to me right now is that there is some fragmentation within the LGBTQ community and I want to make sure we’re not part of that, and if we are, I want to pull us out so whatever issues need to be fixed and addressed,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity for that community to move forward and it’s an opportunity for us to continue to develop the relationships that we do have. The one key thing I’ve taken out of this is that, whether you like it or not, there are marginalized sections within the community that we need to develop stronger relationships with and we’re working toward that.”
Saunders went on to affirm that Toronto Police officers will still be on hand at the parade to provide security.
“Let’s be clear, us not participating in the parade does not mean that we’re not going to secure the parade,” he said. “Officers are welcome to attend as citizens but not in uniform and hopefully this is a starting point for the proper dialogue that we need to have.”
When asked whether the decision was made in an effort to rid TPS of a nuisance, Saunders disagreed, calling it an “opportunity.”
“The ability for us to listen to everybody is an important step in moving in the right direction,” he said. “I think we’ll capitalize on that at the end of the day.”
TPA President calls it ‘kneejerk reaction’
Meanwhile, Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said the decision is a step in the wrong direction.
“We believe this is a kneejerk reaction without any meaningful dialogue with our members,” McCormack told CP24 via phone.
“I can tell you that our members feel that this is political pandering, this is a continuation of knee jerk reactions since Black Lives Matter shut Pride down last year. We don’t think this is a step in the right direction. We think that this will seriously have an impact on institutional police and the LGBTQ‘s relationship.”
McCormack, who has been a stalwart opponent to excluding police from the Pride Parade, said Friday’s decision surprised him.
“We have been getting an ongoing support from the LGBTQ community,” he said. “To say that we’re not going to participate in the Parade but we’re going to host the reception… We’ll always provide public and professional security, that’s what we do, but clearly this is a step backwards from inclusion for our members and we’re disappointed.”
Tory says he’s ‘disappointed’
Toronto Mayor John Tory expressed similar sentiments in his own statement. He said while he respects Saunders’ decision, he’s “disappointed and frustrated” with what’s unfolded.
"No one should feel excluded from Pride and no group should have to decide it is better if they just don't take part. This current situation is not good for a city as inclusive as Toronto. We know that diversity strengthens us as a city and pushing people apart weakens us as a city,” he said in the statement issued Friday afternoon.
“I have proudly participated in Pride for years and I want to thank the police for everything they have done to support this important event. I also want to thank police for how far they have come in their relationships with the LGBTQ2S communities. Our police officers should be commended for the bridges that have been built and that they are continuing to build.”
Tory said he confirmed with Saunders that the decision will not impact the service’s “ongoing outreach” to the community.
“With respect to police participation in future Pride parades, I remain hopeful that the parties involved can find a way to resolve this issue as soon as possible and to ensure that we can continue to build those vitally important bridge," he said.
However, co-founder of Black Lives Matter- Toronto, Sandy Hudson, told CTV News Toronto that she doesn’t understand the announcement because “the decision has already been made.”
“I think it’s kind of cute that he’s (Saunders) trying to pass it off as his decision when, at the Pride AGM where they were hundreds of people in the room, had a discussion and made a decision already that the police would not be able to join the parade,” she said.
Hudson said the TPS needs to undergo major changes in order for black members of the LGTBQ community to feel safe standing among police at the Pride Parade.
She said Saunders’ pledge to engage in a dialogue with marginalized members of the community has been a long time coming.
“We’ve been asking for this for years, since we first started working on these issues. Mark Saunders has ignored every single one of our emails. The city has now started to do some consultations, which is good, so we’ll see where that goes,” she told CTV News Toronto.
“Obviously we want there to be change,” she continued.
“We don’t want a stagnated process so hopefully this time around they’re being serious and we’ll see some change with the way that police interact with black folk, black queer and trans folks in this city.”
Pride Toronto member says it's 'proactive'
Meanwhile, Pride Toronto said they are committed to continuing to participate in the dialogue concerning their members.
“We are listening. We will listen. What we have seen from the Toronto Police Service is that they are also listening and their actions reflect a commitment to continuing the conversation with our community and moving forward,” Pride Toronto said in a statement Friday.
They too reaffirmed that TPS officers can march in the parade as citizens.
“We want to be clear, members of the Toronto Police Service are still welcome to march in the parade as members or allies of our diverse and beautiful community,” the statement read.
One Pride Toronto member told CP24 that she “had an inkling” Toronto police would make this decision in the wake of Halifax Regional Police Service announcing that they would not participate in their city’s Pride Parade.
“I think it was a smart move on the chief’s part. I really think this is the way the pendulum is swinging across the country,” Gwen Bartleman told CP24 via phone. “I think it is a very proactive kind of move and I think it’s a smart move.”
