Kanye West backlash includes Mayor John Tory, online petition

Kanye West's appearance at the closing ceremony of the Pan Am Games has rankled a few Torontonians.

They're upset that the event's organizers chose an American artist over a Canadian.

"I wish it'd been a Canadian," said Mayor John Tory when he was asked about West closing out the Games.

West will be joined by two other artists, who are Cuban-American and Canadian. Pitbull, born Miami, Florida, will join Canadian Serena Ryder at the July 26 event.

Regardless, many wanted a Torontonian artist to close the Games.

A petition titled "Don't have Kanye West perform the closing ceremony for the Toronto Pan American Games" objected to West's nationality as well.

"Why was a local artist or group not chosen and supported, just as our local athletes are throughout the games?" writes Allen Simans, who started the petition shortly after the announcement.

The petition is directed at Pan Am Games chair David Peterson and the Games' CEO Saäd Rafi.

It is not the first petition to keep West from performing in Ontario.

Earlier this month, the award-winning rapper played the Ottawa Bluesfest despite a petition to remove him from the bill.

And when the Glastonbury Festival in the U.K. announced that West would be one of the headliners, over 130,000 people signed a petition demanding that organizers cancel his performance. The rapper, who called the petition "an insult," performed regardless.

Are you part of the backlash against West?