In a recent debate hosted by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, Toronto mayoral candidate John Tory gave Toronto citizens a vivid glimpse of what to expect (if he were to be elected Mayor) when he expressed his opposition to Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. In response to the controversy surrounding QuAIA, an organization that believes Israel maintains an apartheid-like occupation of Palestinian territory, Tory stated that he would cut all city funding allocated to Pride if QuAIA were granted approval for participation in the parade.
As you might be wondering, why does Tory think that the particular ideology of one organization provides a reasonable basis to cut funding to one of the city’s largest festivals? According to Tory, QuAIA’s mandate and rhetoric is inconsistent with the City of Toronto Human Rights and Anti-Harassment Policy. According to city manager Joe Pennachetti and Toronto lawyer Anna Kinastowski, however, QuAIA’s rhetoric, specifically the use of the phrase “Israeli apartheid”, does not amount to hate speech nor does such a phrase transgress the Ontario Human Rights Code or the aforementioned city’s human rights policy.
It is interesting to note, however, that despite all of the recent (and past) controversy and opposition surrounding QuAIA, this organization has maintained its permit to march in the Pride Parade over the past several years and it appears that QuAIA will retain this permit for the next Pride Parade as well. One would think that with all the negative press and accusations directed at QuAIA, Pride Toronto would have revoked its permit to march in the Pride Parade in previous years, or, at the very least, for this upcoming year. After all, Pride Toronto allows for the possibility of revoking an organization’s permit to march in the parade without any substantive grounds for doing so, as evidenced by Pride Toronto’s revocation of CAFE’s permit to march in the World Pride Parade of 2014. (more...)
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