Mayor John Tory is supporting police after Black Lives Matter controversially demanded they be barred from marching in Pride, saying excluding the force from the parade would be a “backwards step.”
“The police have embraced Pride. Pride have embraced the police. And I think to go backwards from there would be a backwards step for the whole community and for Pride,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Tory’s comments come after he sent a letter to the police union calling police marchers a “hallmark” of the annual parade.
“I for one appreciate both the support for Pride and all that it represents coming from the police officers who march as well as the professional way in which they have kept Pride and its participants safe all these years,” Tory wrote, adding he is confident police will continue to participate in the event.
READ MORE: Black Lives Matter flooded with hate mail following Toronto Pride Parade sit-in
The issue of police in Pride exploded after Black Lives Matter marchers staged a sit-in during Sunday’s parade that halted the march for around 30 minutes. Activists presented a list of nine demands — including barring police floats from future events — that a Pride executive signed on the spot, ending the disruption.
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But one day later Pride was backpedalling from what was widely seen as agreeing to bar police, saying nothing was actually agreed upon and that the signing was done only to get the parade moving again.
“Pride Toronto never agreed to exclude police services from the Pride parade,” it said in a statement. “We have had, and will continue to have, discussions with the police about the nature of their involvement as parade participants.”
Black Lives Matter has said the uproar shows it has struck a nerve, insisting it will press Pride on the demands that it says would make the parade more inclusive and safer for black and other racialized communities. It also says it has received a flood of hate mail attacking the group for its protest tactic.
Co-founder Rodney Diverlus called Tory’s letter “infuriating and insensitive.”
“It solidifies our assertions of Mayor Tory’s lack of commitment to addressing police violence and anti-black racism in the city,” Diverlus told Global News.
“The mayor has been silent on many issues relating to the black community and picks and chooses when he wants to show his support for the police, and we see through that.”
Tory said he thinks Pride should be bringing in more groups, and not push some — police — out.
“Now is not the time to go backwards on it. Now is the time to include more people.”
The demand has infuriated the Toronto Police Association union, and drawn criticism from other unions representing police and first responders across the GTA.
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