thousands of people are pouring into downtown Toronto today for the city’s Pride Parade the cbc’s Clara Paca is there and she joins us now Clara there where are you kid somewhere in that crowd yes Linda as you can see there is just so much excitement here behind me in downtown Toronto for this Pride Parade so much color behind me this is you know really quite the celebration but the thing to remember here is that this is a celebration but it also started as an act of an act of resistance an act of solidarity especially at a time when there wasn’t as much inclusion uh as we see in Canada today and you know we had the chance to speak to a couple of people who are here from Nigeria a place where there isn’t the same level of acceptance for the lgbtq2s uh plus community and they really rang that point home here’s a little of what they had to say uh it’s important because I’m trying to express myself and express how I feel because um I feel here in Canada you can always uh do whatever you want if you are LGBT you are free to do it back home in my country you can do it so it’s fun seeing my fellow LGBT and celebrating with them so so certainly for for these attendees uh a lot of meaning making and being here today but there are also people who are reminding us that there’s a lot more fight to do here at home to build a more inclusive Canada here’s what a couple other attendees had to say about that it hurts that we aren’t seen as people and that our rights are so debated because we’re just people like everyone else and we deserve the same rights and it sucks that we can’t live as us so certainly lots of meaning lots of things that people are carrying with them today at this parade lots of reflection for sure there Clara and uh looks like a pretty big party as well behind you quite a large turnout what can you tell us about the size of the [Music] crowd well absolutely uh last year uh this the the pride parade had about three uh 3 million people uh the festival estimates expecting something similar this year they certainly got a a great day for it it’s uh you know Sunny not not too cold here in in Toronto the perfect temperature for it and those millions of people coming out here really mean a huge economic impact for the city for the country so it’s not just about u meaning making it’s also about money making uh last year the the pride parade economic impact uh estimated was around $600 million of contributions uh to the country’s GDP so certainly the hope is is that or better this year um and you know one of the biggest beneficiaries of uh all of of this economic activity is small businesses it’s been so hard hit during the pandemic so they’re really excited to to be out there it’s it’s restaurants it’s hotels it’s all of those sorts of businesses here’s what uh one small business had to say about how much this all means it’s great um it’s a great way for people to hang out um and learn about all these new businesses um there’s a lot um that I have never even heard about when I was walking up and down and it’s a great way for even for business relationships um I met a lot of people that work on the street um and so I’ve made a lot of new [Music] friends so certainly you can see at the excitement of this parade is just getting underway here um and people are going to be just checking this out uh checking out all the businesses along the street and uh you know lots lots more excitement here in downtown Toronto the the best is perhaps yet to come for many Clara great to have you out there for us enjoy the day that’s is cbc’s Clara paa in Toronto
This year’s Pride parade started Sunday on Bloor Street and Church Street and is expected to end at Nathan Phillips Square, according to Pride Toronto. Participants and business owners give their thoughts on the parade’s impact, culminating the month-long celebration of pride.
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