Prime minister marches in P.E.I. Pride parade as provincial politicians told to keep it 'non-partisan'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marched in the P.E.I. Pride parade Saturday in downtown Charlottetown, while Pride P.E.I. asked provincial politicians to leave their party's branded materials at home.

The 25th annual parade began at noon at the provincial government buildings on Terry Fox Drive. It continued down Euston Street to Great George, Grafton and Rochford before ending on Kent Street.

The announcement by the PMO of Trudeau's participation came months after parade organizers said it no longer wanted provincial politicians and political leaders to participate.

That came in the wake of some audio that emerged of Premier Dennis King while he was on the campaign trail. Prompted by a question from an unknown person on the voice track, King said that, in an ideal world, people would agree to disagree about things like drag storytime events. He later apologized for his remarks.

In an interview Saturday morning, Lucky Fusca, board chair of Pride P.E.I., said they agreed to welcome Trudeau's participation after getting approval from BIPOC and Indigenous people from within the LGBTQ community.

"I think that Justin Trudeau will probably feel pretty honoured to be able to march with us today."

They said provincial politicians were welcome to march in the parade but only as individuals in a "non-partisan" way. 

"But as far as having any kind of branded materials that represent their parties, we ask that they don't do that," Fusca said.

"The reason being is that we felt that the local provincial parties haven't done what we expect them to do at this point as far as showing active allyship, as well as providing tangible supports to organizations that are serving the community."

Federal Liberal MP Sean Casey kicked off Pride week with a barbecue July 21.

Trudeau faced some hostility, cutting short an event short in Belleville, Ont., last week, when protesters swarmed his motorcade. That event was not tied to Pride festivities.

He was greeted warmly on P.E.I., though one person in the crowd could be heard shouting "dictator." 

A record 75 groups registered for the parade, including the first marching band to participate.

"This is magic," Fusca said. "It's a day full of love to celebrate who we are authentically ... so very honoured and excited."