London Pride plans to apply for funding as feds offer $1.5M for increasing security costs
London Pride is one of several organizations that plans to apply for funding this month as the federal government announced Fierté Canada Pride will receive $1.5 million to support anti-hate measures for Pride festivals.
“While we certainly welcome it, it is in this context of unprecedented levels of hate against the LGBTQ2S+ community and so of course it’s a concern. But what we’re seeing in communities across the country, event organizers, performers, activists being targeted for who they are,” said Toby Whitfield, executive director of Capital Pride.
On Tuesday, Whitfield said Canada Pride will distribute the money to local event organizers who apply for assistance and who are eligible.
“It’s part of efforts we’ve been undertaking over the last few months to make sure that pride festivals feel safe and our communities feel safe to celebrate loudly and proudly,” he added.
The National Association of Canada Pride organizations sent the federal government an “emergency funding proposal” in May, asking for $1.5 million to help cover the costs of safety and security that have gone up since a rise in anti-LGBTQ2S+ hate, violence, and threats.
The funding will go towards increasing expenses during Pride season this year, including security and police services, volunteer training, and insurance premiums. In addition to safety gear, they will need training for staff and volunteers, as well as barricades and fencing.
Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ian confirmed the funding plan during an event across the street from Parliament Hill on Monday.
"A constituent said to me just the other day: 'Marci, this Pride is different. We've never seen this amount of rage, we've never seen this amount of hate directed towards us,'" the minister said. "Our government will not stand by while hate and violence seek to reverse decades of progress."
This one-time emergency funding allocation will be coming from an equality-focused program within Ian's department, and fits into the federal government's LGBTQ2S+ "Action Plan" unveiled last August.
After this Pride season, Whitfield said Pride organizations will be calling on all levels of government to continue help address anti 2SLGBTQI+ violence.
— With files from CTV’s Rachel Aiello
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.