CANADA: Toronto Pride Canceled Under City Orders

Global News reports:

The City of Toronto has cancelled events through June 30 amid the coronavirus pandemic, including the annual Pride Parade. Toronto Mayor John Tory made the announcement during an update on the city’s response to COVID-19 Tuesday afternoon.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Toronto is cancelling all city-led major events, festivals, conferences, and cultural programs and is also cancelling all city permits for major events organized by external groups,” Tory said.

“This is not an easy decision to make, but it is necessary to protect the public and to save lives … While we treasure many of these events and the important contribution they make to life in our city, protecting the health and safety of Toronto residents has to be our primary concern right now.”

In alignment with the City of Toronto’s statement, Pride Toronto will no longer host the Festival Weekend on June 26-28th, 2020. Our full statement is available online https://t.co/KSXeLOs9E3 Stay proud and stay safe, Toronto. #PrideToronto #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/T7ANaknTpJ

— Pride Toronto (@PrideToronto) March 31, 2020

(Tipped by JMG reader Jeff)