Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders has penned a letter to Pride Toronto’s board of directors, defending the police service’s relationship with the LGBTQ community following outcry from Black Lives Matter- Toronto on the participation of police in the annual Pride Parade.
In Saunders’ letter released Wednesday, the police chief said the service's members hope to continue to play an “active role” in future parades.
“I am writing this letter to you because I want to make sure there is no confusion about the position of the Toronto Police Service. This is too important an issue, and too much has been written and spoken that bears no relation to the truth,” Saunders wrote.
“My Service has made enormous strides in recent years to enhance and develop our relationship with the LGBTQ communities in Toronto. We have, internally and externally, demonstrated a willingness to learn, to develop, to work together, to support each other. There is much to be done, but we have come a long way.”
The letter comes less than a month after Black Lives Matter staged a sit-in protest at this year’s Pride Parade, halting the event for several minutes while they presented a parade organizer with a list of demands.
On the list was a call to ban all police floats from future parades. The parade resumed only after Pride Toronto Executive Director Mathieu Chantelois signed the list of demands.
“Despite attempts by some to undermine the relationship between my Service and the LGBTQ communities, and the subsequent uncertainty about future Toronto Police Service participation in the parade, my Service and I have been grateful for the overwhelmingly positive response from people all over the city, from those inside and outside the LGBTQ communities. We have received many calls, emails, texts and social media posts that tell us how much the people of Toronto appreciate and value our continuing efforts working with the LGBTQ communities,” Saunders’ letter read.
The police chief went on to outline the ways the TPS is improving and supporting its relationship with the LGBTQ community, including a new gender-neutral washroom at police headquarters, its Coffee with Cops event, the LGBTQ Youth Justice Bursary and its ‘Let’s Talk’ series.
He said some members of the LGBTQ community have expressed concerns that the fallout from the Pride Parade protest may impact the police service’s outreach efforts.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. I want to assure them, and you, that we will continue to build on the progress we have made, while also acknowledging there is much more to be done," Saunders wrote.
"We value our relationship with Pride and it is important to us to continue playing an active role in the parade. Chief William Blair marched in the parade in 2005, I marched in the parade last year and this year. In between, hundreds of Toronto Police Service officers have marched, danced, biked and ridden on floats in the parade. We will continue to push forward, continue to reach out to the most vulnerable and (marginalized). We will continue to work to make this city a more inclusive city, for all people.”
Pride Toronto’s executive director previously said the organization has not committed to ban police floats from subsequent parades.
Speaking to CP24 the day after last month’s parade took place, Chantelois said it would be up to the membership to decide.
“That is the kind of decision that needs to be made by the community,” Chantelois said at the time.
“We agreed to have a conversation about this. We agreed that we will bring this to the community and to the membership, but at the end of the day, if my membership says no way, we want to have police floats, they decide.”
