Buried in the last line of the Toronto Star’s take on the Pride Toronto-City of Toronto stalemate: “Pride will likely” receive the same amount of city funding in 2010 as it did in 2009. That strikes me as strange, considering that the headline is “City may cut Pride funding over ‘Israeli apartheid’ marchers.” The city cash hasn’t been doled out yet, so bureaucrats can’t guarentee if a group will be funded, but this is the most positive language yet to come out of city hall on the issue.
There is, however, a “warning” from city staff, related to 2011. From a senior bureaucrat, Mike Williams:
“We have the right to disqualify them from future grants, so we
certainly would look at that,” he said. Characterizing his message as a
“strong warning,” he added: “Every circumstance is different, so I’m
loath to tell somebody flat out, ‘If this happens you won’t get your
money next year,’ but it sure would become a very strong possibility.”
Meanwhile, the Ontario Legislature’s condemnation of student-led Israeli Apartheid Week is being used as justification for the city’s handwringing over Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. Did the province, as a response, cut off funding to the University of Ottawa for failing to suppress IAW? Well, no, right?
Why you can trust Xtra
