OTTAWA - Industry Minister Tony Clement has taken over a key funding program -- a move one Tory MP says came as a result of another minister awarding $400,000 to the Toronto Gay Pride parade and allegedly shocking many in the Tory caucus.
Darren Cunningham, a spokesman for Clement, said Tuesday responsibility for the Marquee Tourism Events Program being switched to Clement from Diane Ablonczy had nothing to do with the donation.
"Mr. Clement is the senior minister for Industry Canada," said Cunningham, who insisted Ablonczy has not been demoted. "This does fall under Industry Canada."
Ablonczy is minister of state for tourism.
Brad Trost, MP for the Saskatchewan riding of Saskatoon-Humboldt, told LifeSiteNews.com that the decision to finance the June 28 parade surprised almost the entire Tory caucus and most of the Prime Minister's Office.
"The pro-life and the pro-family community should know and understand that the tourism funding money that went to the gay pride parade in Toronto was not government policy, was not supported by -- I think it's safe to say -- a large majority of the MPs," Trost told the site, which describes itself as a non-profit service dedicated to family issues.
"This was a very isolated decision."
But another Tory MP questioned Trost's interpretation of events.
"My reaction from what I'm hearing is that he's making most of it up," said the Conservative, who did not want to be identified.
The MP said it "could be true" that funding came as a shock to the caucus but added that only a handful of members said they might have a problem in their ridings when Ablonczy told them about the funding.
"The prime minister, I'm not sure if he responded at all."
Neither Trost nor Ablonczy returned calls Tuesday.
