N.S. premier says he was told he’d be ‘lightning rod’ if he walked in Pride parade

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston on Thursday defended his absence from this year’s Halifax Pride parade, saying he didn’t attend because police feared he’d be a lightning rod for protesters.

The premier issued a written statement earlier this week indicating he didn’t march Saturday because the RCMP had warned there were safety concerns.

Asked to elaborate after Thursday’s cabinet meetings, Houston said if the parade had been stopped because of his presence, “you can imagine how that might unfold in a highly sensitized environment,” adding that he had feared some in the crowd might have become frustrated and upset.

He didn’t specify which protesters would have forced the parade to be halted, but he noted that other parades in Canada have been interrupted.

During the Toronto Pride parade in June, pro-Palestinian protesters caused the event to be cut short when they blocked the parade route, with some holding banners that read “No Pride in genocide,” in reference to the war in the Gaza Strip.

Houston said his decision to skip the event doesn’t diminish his support for the LGBTQ+ community, but he said it would have been irresponsible to attend if his presence would have added “danger to the public.”

Nova Scotia’s Liberal, NDP and Green parties each participated with a parade float, leaving the Progressive Conservatives as the only major political party not represented at the event.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Thursday she has trouble accepting the premier’s explanation, given that no one else in the governing party officially attended.

“We’re talking about the presence of the party that governs this province in a regional parade of diversity in this province,” she said. “The party was registered to attend and did not show up.”

She questioned why, if there was a security risk, she and other party leaders weren’t contacted.

“I don’t know what his (Houston’s) real reason for not being there was, but nothing I’ve heard so far makes much sense to me …. I think the premier ought to put himself in uncomfortable spaces.”

Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson Guillaume Tremblay has confirmed that police provided Houston’s office with advice, though he has said the decision to attend was up to the premier. Advice provided to Houston was based on “current international events and local disruptions such as protests,” Tremblay wrote in an email earlier this week.

Tremblay has said the RCMP would have deployed the necessary resources if the premier had attended.

Pride organizers warned parade float co-ordinators in an email on July 8 they should be prepared for the parade to be stopped by demonstrators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press