Coun. John Campbell tells Pride Toronto to 'come to their senses' on police in parade

A Toronto city councillor says unless officials with Pride Toronto "come to their senses" when it comes to allowing uniformed police to march in this year's parade, he's going to move forward with a motion to have the city pull Pride's funding. 

Coun. John Campbell (Ward 4, Etobicoke Centre) says when the city is giving money to a group, there are certain expectations they need to live up to. 

"I think they should see the light and make sure [police are] active participants in the parade. I don't think money should be handed out with no strings attached," he said.

"I think what they should do is come to their senses and realize that the police are their friends and not the enemy."

A committee of five councillors will look over this year's funding allocations for cultural organizations Monday. Campbell isn't on the committee. The discussion will then move to council at a later date. 

Currently, Pride receives a $260,000 grant from the city. Campbell, who has never attended a Pride parade due to scheduling conflicts, says he's open to changing his mind on his motion if Pride officials change their minds.

"I'm not hard and fast. I'm a pretty reasonable person. If I see Pride is trying to improve the situation with Toronto Police, that would be a step in the right direction."

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Last summer's parade was held up by a contingent from Black Lives Matter Toronto until Pride organizers agreed to a list of demands, including a promise to prevent uniformed police from participating in future parades.

Campbell says he's been in contact with Toronto Pride executive director Olivia Nuamah over the past number of weeks discussing how to move forward with police participation.

"My personal view is Pride has not lived up to those expectations as of now," he said.

Pride responds

Nuamah says while her discussions have been "fruitful" with Campbell, she's made it clear no uniformed police officers are welcome in this year's parade.

"Our dialogue was very much him telling us the ways in which he would like the police to participate. There was really no middle ground. He wanted uniformed police participation."

Nuamah says police are more than welcome to march in the parade in plain clothing, "as long as they are un-uniformed, no weapons and no armoured vehicles," she said.

In fact, the organization made a point of reiterating that message ahead of Monday's meeting over the weekend. 

"LGBTQ+ police officers and their allies are not banned from the parade," Pride Toronto said in a press release Sunday. "We are simply requesting that their participation not include the following elements: uniform, weapons, and vehicles."

Nuamah says Pride will re-evaluate what police participation looks like after this year's parade.

"I want an organization that the community feels reflects it," Nuamah said. "I hope this makes us more facilitators of a dialogue rather than an organization that's trying to exclude anybody."

Black Lives Matter, Pride Toronto don't have relationship

Campbell said he had a piece of advice for Pride Toronto. 

"My suggestion to Pride was, 'You should really think about distancing yourself from Black Lives Matter.'" 

But Nuamah says other than a few members of Black Lives Matter Toronto who are also members of Pride Toronto, there has been no dialogue or communication between the two groups.

"Black Lives Matter and Toronto Pride don't have a relationship," she said. "Apart from protesting at our parade, and us making them an honoured group, there is little evidence of making this a relationship."

Nuamah says there has not been a conversation with Black Lives Matter Toronto since last year's Pride. 

"We're not in close contact."

Pride Festival weekend is scheduled to run this year from June 23-25.

Last year, it cost about $4.3 million to stage Pride, according to the organization's website. It had revenues of about $4.4 million, of which $800,000 was in the form of government grants. The city provides $260,000.