From here:
It seems, thanks to work around Queen’s Park, the permit for the 15th annual Jesus in the City Parade Sept. 6 has been yanked by the city.
“In view of the circumstances, the Street Events section of Transportation Services cannot approve your request to assemble the parade floats and have parade participants form up along Queen’s Park,” Transportation Services’ Rita Hoy wrote on Friday. “Shawn Dartsch from our traffic section indicates that he cannot approve this request as everything hinges on the construction.”
[…..]
“We were really upset by this,” said Dr. Charles McVety, of Canada Christian College. “We have been planning for the whole year and just weeks before the event, notice comes to cancel it. It’s shocking.”
To add insult to injury, McVety and Jesus in the City organizer Ayanna Solomon question why the city hasn’t helped with an alternative route.
“It is a sad day in this city when a parade for peace and love, Jesus in the City, is cancelled by city officials,” said McVety. “They would never do this to (the Caribbean Carnival) or the Pride Parade.”
[…..]
Director of Transportation Services Jacqueline White said, “Unfortunately it was not possible, logistically, to accommodate the sheer number of people that were expected to participate, on the date requested, on Queen’s Park Crescent,” which is being “resurfaced, and there would be ongoing lane closures and construction equipment present.
“The weekend requested also conflicts with orientation activities at the University of Toronto and it is the opening weekend of the Toronto Film Festival, which often has activities on Bloor St.”
I am quite certain that there is no construction known to man that would have prevented the City of Toronto issuing the necessary permits for the Pride Parade a few months back.
No doubt the Anglican Church of Canada will sternly denounce this decision by the city; now I come to think of it, the ACoC, ever mindful of its priorities, only participates in the Pride Parade, not the Jesus Parade. How could I have forgotten that?
Well, I think it has something to do with Queen’s Park and the work around it sounds like typical red tape, wrong place at the wrong time to me.
The parade will probably have to be done at a different place and time.
This is all problematic
I do not think you will hear a peep from ACoC ,I doubt if they would even march in the parade ,they would see it as exclusive and discriminatory.
Tony Houghton you are quite correct. The ACoC has abandoned any claim to be Christian and simply worships whatever is included in that deceptive phrase “political correctness”. We definitely need to pray for the repentance and conversion of the bishops and other leadership within the ACoC. Currently they are quite willing to worship the Baals if that fits in with the general view of society.
What is it about planning that McVety does not understand? Chuckles lives to play the martyr for pointless causes.
Sounds like social engineering, not civil engineering, to me. The city had the application in February, they knew about “the sheer number of people that were expected to participate,” they knew that this is the 15th year for the parade, but they cancel it with 2 weeks’ warning?
What’s wrong, were they worried about noise? nudity? angry mobs? I don’t think so – those types of parades went ahead already this year, and were lauded with standing ovations at City Hall.