Mayor, Clown Council & Unions! Most Of the rest of Us Take Pride In Our Country

Matt Gurney: In patriotic Toronto, Pride parade goes ahead; Canada Day gets the axe

Posted: June 30, 2009, 4:45 PM by NP Editor

What's the difference between Gay Pride and national pride? In Toronto, one goes on in spite of the strike, and the other gets cancelled. Guess which one got the axe? If you guessed Canada Day, that would be correct!

Pride Week is one of Toronto's most famous, most profitable festivals. It brings people in from all over the world for a huge party and one massive, event-ending parade. While a huge boon for Toronto business owners and tax revenues, packing a million people onto downtown streets obviously results in a lot of litter. Normally, that would be no big deal, and in years past, the city is quickly and efficiently returned to pristine condition. Well...as close as Toronto ever comes, anyway.

This year, though, with city workers out on strike, the massive cleanup job fell to the city's non-union work force and a handful of private contractors. Along the way, union members picketed and otherwise interfered with the private workers, spouting the usual drivel about non-union members doing the jobs the union members refuse to do. Nonetheless, despite the poor weather and the pickets, the streets were swept, the trash collected, and another successful Pride Week was brought to a close.

Canada Day, though – not so lucky.

While there will still be several provincially and federally run events taking place within the confines of Toronto, such as fireworks at Ontario Place and the former CFB Downsview, all city-run events have been cancelled due to the strike. With the workers on the picket lines, there is not enough staff to run the events, city officials say, and no one to clean them. Their argument is that Pride, though massive, is at least geographically constrained, whereas Canada Day events would be scattered across the city, and therefore harder to clean up with limited staff. I know that David Miller isn’t one to provoke a union if he can at all avoid it, but it would have been nice to see at least a glimmer of citizenship from both the government and the unions. Surely the one day of the year where we celebrate our nation could have been salvaged? I guess it goes to show you how the unions and the city officials think. We daren't offend the Pride organizers, that would be politically incorrect. Canadians as a whole, however? Screw 'em.

Torontonians who don’t want to shuffle north or south to take in the fireworks will have a harder-than-usual time organizing a neighbourhood event. City parks, normally a great place for a picnic and some celebratory flag-waving, are in the process of being turned into open-air dumps for the city’s rotting trash. Nineteen already have been so converted and currently house the city’s waste. If things aren’t resolved soon, dozens more will be turned into dumps. How delightful. Really stirs up the patriotic fervour, doesn’t it?

Canadians are blessed to live in a rich, peaceful land. Let’s hope that knowledge is enough to placate 2.5 million Torontonians on Wednesday, all dressed up in red and white, and with no clean place to go. Those who can would be well advised to flee into the countryside around the GTA. Even when it rains, the parties go on.

Happy Canada Day to you, Toronto! Don’t mind the smell.

Matt Gurney
National Post

matt@mattgurney.ca

Photo: In Ottawa, preparations for Canada Day celebrations went ahead despite cloudy skies. In Toronto, official festivities were cancelled by a city workers' strike. (Ashley Fraser / The Ottawa Citizen)