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Richmond Hill tells Pride Parade Yonge Street event must move

YorkRegion.com
Feb. 4, 2017
Kim Zarzour

Downtown Richmond Hill has lost another key event on Yonge Street.

The Santa Claus parade and Heritage Fest were removed from the village’s main thoroughfare in 2016, and now York Region Pride Parade organizers have been told they, too, will have to find a new location for 2017.

Instead, the town is suggesting the fifth annual event – the only one of its kind in the region – take place in the park and adjacent to Elgin Barrow arena, just east of Yonge.

Meeta Gandhi, communications director for the town, said the change was made due to traffic issues, costs to the town for waste collection and other services, impact on local business and poor attendance (reported to be almost 500, including participants and spectators last year).

"We did not say no to the parade," Gandhi said. "We said we will work with you to find alternate arrangements."

For parade organizers who have been planning the event for this coming June 17, the news came as a shock and disappointment.

The town welcomed the parade with “open arms” when it was first launched in 2013, said Jacob Gal, Pride Parade spokesperson.

Richmond Hill was the first municipality in York Region to proclaim Pride week, raising the Rainbow Flag outside municipal offices.

Each year, two weeks before the bigger Toronto parade, the town closed Yonge St., between Crosby Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive, for approximately one hour.

This year, the parade committee was told Yonge Street would not be closed and instead they could hold it on Vern Dynes Way, at nearby Elgin Barrow arena and the adjacent town park.

That, says Gal, is not good enough.

“This festival is extremely important to the LGBT community as visibility can sometimes be one of the major problems we face… York Region has always had problems in regard to people feeling uncomfortable about being open about their sexuality or gender expression where they live.”

With so many newcomers moving to the region from countries where LGBTQ is not accepted, homophobia remains a problem in York, he said.

“We have too many people who hide in the closet here.”

A parade on Yonge helps bring visibility to diversity and encourage understanding, he said.

While the town has always been supportive of the parade, recent changes to their Festival Event Strategy Plan “basically crippled our ability to move forward”, he added.

Gandhi said the town has adopted a standardized approach to festival events that requires applications to be submitted to a “cross-divisional team” that reviews events, then discusses possible strategies.

The long-standing Heritage Fest on Yonge also came to an end recently.

For more than 20 years, Yonge Street, between Major Mackenzie and Crosby, has been closed for one day in June for the Heritage Village Festival street fair.

Changes to the town’s grant-funding structure and concerns about impact on Yonge traffic led the town to suggest organizers reconsider the location and consider holding the event in an arena, instead.

The annual Santa Claus parade, traditionally held along Yonge in the centre of town, was also moved last year.

Citing concerns about construction for the Viva Next rapidway, the town announced the event would be held in the Leslie Street area.

Ghandi said it’s not known yet if parades will return to Yonge Street.

“We don’t know the long-term plans at this point, but for the foreseeable future, Santa Claus parade will not be on Yonge.”

Pride parade organizers are looking to other municipalities to see if they are willing to host their event in a more visible location, Gal said.

Visibility stimulates conversation, awareness and acceptance of diversity, he said.

“Visibility also enhances the well-being of closeted members of the LGBT community, as it reduces their sense of isolation.

“Richmond Hill has always been such a great partner. Obviously, we don’t want to burn bridges with (the town), but we also need a contingency plan to save the parade and continue building a more inclusive York Region.” 

Meantime, the town is continuing discussions on where the parade can be accommodated and how the town can support it, said Ward 5 councillor Karen Cilevitz.

“I have no doubt that eventually, our Santa Claus Parade will return to Yonge Street, as will hopefully our Pride Parade and possible future events/festivals. This is the heart of our town, and with the soon-to-be built Civic Precinct People's Place at Yonge and Major Mackenzie, even more so.”

SIDEBAR

Pride parades in the GTA: