In a unanimous vote Thursday, councillors approved a grant of roughly $124,000, which is about 8 per cent of Pride’s $1.6 million budget. As part of the compromise, councillors also voted to condemn the term “Israeli apartheid.”
“Next year, I’ll be the first guy out to say ‘no funding ever’” if any politically charged groups cause problems, cautioned deputy mayor Doug Holyday.
Councillor James Pasternak later characterized the decision as “a risk and a leap of faith” based on the idea that Pride organizers would ban Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from marching. Holyday later said there’s a distinction between quietly marching and being disruptive.
These types of mixed signals, as well as the politically charged rhetoric, left some councillors as well as Pride organizers frustrated.
Pride co-chair Luka Amona questioned why his organization seems to have to leap hurdles the other 10 major cultural events in Toronto don’t.
“We have over 250 artists. Over 90 per cent of them are local. And that’s where the city money goes to. The city money doesn’t go to funding the parade,” he said. “Pride is being treated differently from other cultural events … It’s very challenging where we every year have to come back on the same issues.”
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam noted that groups such as Luminato and the Toronto International Film Festival have not been made to jump through the hoops Pride has.
The genesis of Thursday’s debate goes back to 2009, when some pro-Israel groups reacted in outrage that 200 members of QUAIA marched in the annual Pride parade. The following year, Pride’s board voted to ban the term “Israeli apartheid,” which sparked its own round of backlash from free-speech activists. By year’s end, the board reversed its decision.
City council has since come under pressure to withhold financial support. Last year, funding was delayed until after the festival, with the understanding that Pride Toronto would receive nothing if Queers Against Israeli Apartheid participated.
A 2010 motion from then-councillor Rob Ford stated that groups participating in Pride must adhere to the city’s anti-discrimination policy. A 2011 staff report found QUAIA does not violate the policy, which is now under review.
Wong-Tam noted that despite an intense lobby from some groups, to her knowledge no one has ever filed a formal complaint — “a very simple form” —against the group. Pride Toronto has a dispute process in place, which would be the first step in banning QuAIA’s participation.
Howard English, senior vice president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said after the decision, “To say we’re satisfied would be an over-statement. We accept it.”
English added that he was very pleased council made the decision to condemn the term “Israeli apartheid.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Robyn Doolittle
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