Toronto mayor to spend Canada Day at cottage instead of Gay Pride
TORONTO, June 26, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - For the second year in a row Toronto’s mayor Rob Ford has made it clear that he has better things to do on Canada Day than take part in Toronto’s annual “Gay Pride” events.
Mr. Ford told the National Post on June 22 he would miss Monday’s gay pride flag-raising due to a previous commitment, while he had earlier said he would not be at the Pride Parade because it takes place on Canada Day, which he usually spends with his family at the cottage.
Rob Ford
Last year Mr. Ford told the media that spending the July 1st long weekend at the cottage is a long held family tradition, which he intends to maintain.
Ford told the Toronto Sun, “We’ve been in Huntsville for the past 30 (years), as long as I can remember, since I’ve been a little boy. I’m carrying on a tradition my father had, last year I was there during the campaign, we’re there every year.”
“My family comes first,” Mayor Ford told reporters last year. “I’m going up to the cottage. I don’t know how much more clear I can be and that’s the end of story.”
The Toronto homosexuality festival started with the flag raising yesterday and ends with the Pride Parade on Sunday, July 1, which the country celebrates as Canada Day, or the day when the British North America Act was enacted, recognizing Canada as a country.
Interspersed during the week are various marches and events including the “Trans March” on Friday, the “Dyke March” on Saturday.
Previous Toronto mayors have attended the homosexual parade but some, such as former mayor Mel Lastman, have stated it was with some trepidation. Lastman said in an interview with the National Post that while he did attend the parades while in office, he didn’t appreciate the nudity and feigned or actual sex acts that are part the event.
Though organizers have tried to portray the parade as “family-friendly,” Toronto Pride is infamous for its public displays of full nudity, sado-masochistic attire, and public sex acts.
At the flag raising on Monday, Councillor Shelley Carroll read the official proclamation on behalf of Mayor Ford. The proclamation began with, “I, Mayor Rob Ford,” which prompted a chorus of boos from the crowd, according to the National Post. It concluded, “on behalf of Toronto city council – of which I think we have quorum – do hereby proclaim June 22 to July 1 2012 as Pride Week in the city of Toronto.”
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday remarked that he believes the pressure put on the mayor by the homosexual community to attend their events is unwarranted, and echoed a comment by openly homosexual Councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam who said, “Some may think that the LGBT community is beyond this sort of thing. We’ve already arrived. We’ve got our rights.”
“I wouldn’t say he’s turned his back on [Pride],” said Holyday. “There’s a lot of events that the mayor doesn’t attend because he simply can’t be at all places at the same time. A lot of people read more into this than there is, I think.”
Contact Information:
Mayor Rob Ford
Office of the Mayor
Toronto City Hall,
2nd Floor
100 Queen St. West
Toronto ON
M5H 2N2
Phone: 416-397-FORD (3673)
E-mail: mayor_ford@toronto.ca
Office of the Mayor
Toronto City Hall,
2nd Floor
100 Queen St. West
Toronto ON
M5H 2N2
Phone: 416-397-FORD (3673)
E-mail: mayor_ford@toronto.ca
