Harper government won't pay for Toronto gay pride festival
Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press
Marchers made their way down Yonge Street during the 29th annual Pride parade on June 28, 2009 (CP24)
OTTAWA — The Harper government is being labelled homophobic for refusing to fund Toronto's gay pride festival this year.
The festival received $400,000 last year from the Marquee Tourism Events Program but it won't get a nickel this year.
Industry Minister Tony Clement insisted Friday the decision has nothing to do with anti-gay sentiment among some members of the ruling Conservative caucus.
Rather, he said the government decided to fund fewer events in major cities this year so it can spread the money around more equitably to smaller centres.
But festival organizers and opposition critics maintained homophobia was behind the decision. And they claimed exclusion of the pride festival is part of a pattern that suggests hard-right, social conservatives are now in charge of the government.
The decision not to fund the festival comes on the heels of recent funding cuts to women's groups and the government's refusal to fund abortion as part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's G8 maternal health initiative.
"This is again another example, in my opinion, of a reckless, ideological cut from a Conservative government which actually has a history of attacking gay rights," said Liberal tourism critic Navdeep Bains.
Pride Toronto executive director Tracey Sandilands pointed out some Conservative MPs were aghast last year when Diane Ablonczy, then tourism minister, gave the festival $400,000.
Shortly afterward, responsibility for the marquee program was shifted from Ablonczy to Clement. Tory MP Brad Trost told an anti-abortion website that Ablonczy was being punished for making a funding decision that was not supported by "a large majority of MPs."
Trost's interpretation of events was denied by the government but Sandilands said the flap was a clear sign "there was definitely homophobia at work then."
This year, she said the qualifying criteria for funding has not changed and other events, including the Calgary Stampede, have received funding for the second year in a row.
"That indicates to me that something has changed between last year and this year and it's not our eligibility," Sandilands said.
"So the only thing it can be is some kind of homophobia. I mean, it makes sense."
But Clement said in an interview it's inaccurate to say the pride festival's funding has been "cut off." He said there was "a whole new application process" this year and no event was guaranteed to get money just because they got some last year.
Last year, Clement said the lion's share of the marquee program's funding went to large urban centres, particularly Toronto and Montreal. This year, the major cities were limited to two successful applications, allowing the government to spread the largesse around to smaller centres across the country.
The two Toronto events that will get funding are the Luminato arts festival and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Clement said both are making new attempts to reach international audiences.
By contrast, he said the pride festival is "a very successful event, it's obviously able to stand on its own two feet."
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100508/100508_pride_gay_funding/20100508/?hub=CP24Home
May 15, 2010 at 1:16 PM
I feel that this article expresses a good point.
Just like the annual Caribana Parade, the Pride Parade will be able to support itself because it is so popular and well known. It has been successful for many years and is an important event to many people in Toronto.
But I don’t feel that the government cutting back on certain funds is such a good idea. This event should be funded just like all the other many public events that are held.
This article made me think about how our upcoming pride parades will look without the fundings. I am very eager to see how well it will play out.
June 7, 2010 at 6:50 PM
After reading this article I must say that Pride Toronto executive director, Tracey Sandilands made some very clear and good points on the issue of homophobia inflicting the government and their decisions on parade funding this year. It is highly suspicious that after so many MP’s were against the funding of last year’s parade, they would cut funding this year under a new leader, Ablonczy. The decision does seem very unfair and prejudice as many MP’s give of the impression of not supporting gay rights by not approving of their funding and then cutting them off. However I do support the government’s efforts to spread funding for citywide events to smaller cities as well. Also I do believe that because the Toronto Gay Pride Parade is so popular it will be able to continue as a successful event without the government’s money. The Luminato Arts Festival and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair are making greater efforts to appeal to wider audiences and so I do see the government’s point to support them over the Pride Festival. The matter here is not that the Pride Festival isn’t a worthy event but that there are simply other events worth the governments funding that will please and reach larger audiences by far. The homophobic views of the MP’s in the government should not be brought up in the matter of pleasing more people with the help of government funding, especially when the Toronto Gay Pride Festival is still so popular and strong on its own.
June 12, 2010 at 8:22 PM
When I was reading this article, I thought that maybe the Harper government made cut-backs, because it was till the Recession. But that wouldn't make sense, because they spend 400,000 last year, when Canada was in an even worse state. I think that festivals and parades are a big impact for different Canadian beliefs to be showcased. If the Harper government was supposedly, "homophobic," I think we might see a new government at the next election. I think this was an ethic decision rather than an economic one.