Tag: Absence

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After 3 year absence Pride returns to Edmonton to celebrate diversity, youth | CBC News

After 3 year absence Pride returns to Edmonton to celebrate diversity, youth | CBC News

Pride returned to Churchill Square in Edmonton this weekend with a diverse lineup of musical acts, comedy shows, drag performances and more. 

It’s been four years since the city has held any major Pride events following issues around diversity and the inclusion of police officers. In 2019 the Pride Festival was cancelled just 10 days before events were scheduled to begin. 

Trevor Watson, executive producer of Edmonton PrideFest which is hosting the weekend event, said he was happy to see Pride return to its “home” in Churchill Square. 

“Once we announced that Pride was coming back home to Churchill Square, I think it brought tears to a lot of people’s eyes in the community,” he said. 

Teens Phoenix Phillips (right) and Onyx Ellis attended their first Pride event on Saturday in Edmonton’s Churchill Square. (Julien LaTraverse/Radio-Canada)

In light of concerns over diversity and inclusion in the local LGBTQ community, organizers issued a statement encouraging people to wear red to support queer and/or trans people who are also Black, Indigenous and/or people of colour (QTBIPOC).

PrideFest asked attendees to bring non-perishable food donations for Raricanow, an Edmonton non-profit dedicated to helping the QTBIPOC community. 

After several years with no events, Watson said it was great to be back.

Edmonton PrideFest took place June 24 and 25 in Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. (Emily Fitzpatrick/CBC)

“We haven’t had a big Pride celebration now for a number of years,” he said. “So what’s so exciting about today [is] this is the first pride for so many people.”

Two young people experiencing their first Pride were teens Onyx Ellis and Phoenix Phillips. 

Ellis said it was great to be in a positive environment where different sexual identities are respected and included. 

That feeling was shared by another first time attendee. 

After four years with no Pride events, Watson said he expected this would be the first Pride for many people. (Emily Fitzpatrick/CBC)

Chloe Savard said it’s important to have events like PrideFest where the LGBTQ community can come together and offer each other support and acceptance. 

“I think it was just a part of finding a community and also feeling understood,” Savard said. “So to just find people who are so open to just having conversations I don’t feel like I have to explain myself all the time.”

Crowds gathered in Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton to celebrate Pride on Saturday afternoon. More events are scheduled for Sunday. (Emily Fitzpatrick/CBC)

Savard’s mother also attended the event on Saturday — a sign of support that meant a lot. 

“I think that’s what I appreciate the most is that even if she doesn’t know, she’s trying.”

Plans for next year are already underway, and Watson has high hopes for Pride 2023. 

“I don’t want to announce that quite yet, but we are working on something that starts with the letter P that goes down the street, but I can’t say what it is.”

 

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Manitoba premier banned from future Pride events after absence from parade | CBC News

Manitoba premier banned from future Pride events after absence from parade | CBC News

Premier Heather Stefanson will not be invited to participate in future Winnipeg Pride events after she didn’t walk in the parade Sunday, which the organizer’s president says insulted an entire community.

After former Manitoba premier Brian Pallister spoke at a Pride rally without participating in the parade 2019, Pride organizers implemented a policy that any leaders invited to speak must also walk in the parade.

After multiple meetings with her staff, it was determined that the new premier could speak before the parade, which she did.

Organizers say they were told she would walk at least two-thirds of the route after her speech, but she did not.

Pride president Barry Karlenzig says he feels like they were lied to for a photo opportunity.

“Why is that team telling me one thing, and then the premier has the audacity to pull exactly what the previous premier did?” Karlenzig said.

“Even after multiple meetings with that office saying this cannot happen or they will not be allowed to walk. So now they’ve done what we told them not to do. She’s not invited next year. Period.”

Premier apologizes

In a statement, Stefanson said she was unable to join the parade due to scheduling conflicts, and there was a miscommunication between her staff and the organizers.

“I want to sincerely apologize to Pride Winnipeg and the 2SLGBTQ+ community for not being able to join in the march portion of Sunday’s events,” she said.

“I hope this mistake is an opportunity to forge a new path forward based on respect and shared goals to build a more inclusive and prosperous Manitoba.”

Pressed about her lack of participation after a news conference Thursday, Stefanson said she was never told that walking in the parade was a requirement of speaking at the rally.

“I was not aware of that. Had I been, I would have been there,” she said. 

Stefanson said she had three events planned for the day of the parade, and was double-booked. 

She said following the Pride rally, she attended a community event at Maples Community Centre with members of the Sikh community. She couldn’t recall what time it started, but said she didn’t want to leave the parade halfway through and be disrespectful. 

The premier said she looks forward to meeting with the Pride Winnipeg executive and hopes they can repair the relationship. 

Karlenzig said he spoke Wednesday evening to a senior staff member who said the oversight was his fault, but the Pride president said he holds the premier responsible.

A spokesperson for the premier clarified that it was a senior strategic adviser that Karlenzig spoke with, not Stefanson’s chief of staff, as Karlenzig originally said.

Other politicians did walk in the parade, including Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew, along with MLAs from the Progressive Conservatives, NDP and Manitoba Liberal Party.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew and members of the Manitoba NDP walk in Sunday’s Pride Parade in Winnipeg. (Walther Bernal/CBC)

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman walks in the Sunday Pride Parade. (Walther Bernal/CBC)

Manitoba Liberal Party Leader Dougald Lamont was not able to attend as he was recovering from COVID-19. 

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RideLondon: thousands take part in mass cycling event after two-year absence

The mass cycling event billed as the London Marathon on two wheels has returned after a Covid-enforced hiatus – with a new destination and, organisers say, a field of riders notably and deliberately more diverse than in previous years.

RideLondon, launched in 2013 as a weekend of cycling events covering both elite sport and mass participation, has proved hugely popular, but was cancelled in 2020 and last year due to the pandemic.

Sunday saw the return of both the “freecycle” family ride along an eight-mile traffic-free route in central London, and more taxing 30-, 60- and 100-mile rides out of the capital into the Essex countryside, with 22,600 riders starting the Essex rides.

Ride London always features a professional race, which this year was a women’s world tour event held over three days from Friday.

From 2013 to 2019, RideLondon headed into Surrey, but the county council decided to withdraw cooperation over the impact of road closures, despite a referendum of residents finding support for it to continue.

The change of destination to Essex allowed the route to be revamped to include wider roads and fewer twisty descents to avoid incidents such as in 2016 when thousands of riders were diverted after one participant was seriously injured in a crash.

Sunday’s 100-mile event saw one significant delay, when an air ambulance was called for a rider who had seemingly suffered a heart attack, but after he was taken to hospital the field was able to continue without any diversions. The rider is understood to be stable in hospital.

The event formerly started at the Olympic Park in east London, but now begins at Embankment in the centre of the city. With the usual finishing point of the Mall inaccessible due to platinum jubilee preparations, it ended at Tower Bridge.

Hugh Brasher, head of the London Marathon organisation, which has run RideLondon since it began, said the change of county allowed a new group of people to see the event go past – and, hopefully, be inspired.

“Going into Essex, we can have an impact there – it makes sense to change it,” he said. “Surrey was incredible, but you can make a difference elsewhere. We’ve got global warming. We have a health and obesity crisis. One in four 11-year-olds are now obese. With Freecycle, and the 30, 60 and 100 events, there really is something for everyone.”

This year, 23% of starters in the 199-mile event were women, a 40% rise on the previous edition, while in the 30-mile version, 46% were women. The organisers, Brasher said, had been doing “a huge amount of work” on both this, and with disability cycling groups and those representing black, Asian and minority ethnic riders.

“Cycling needs to become more accessible and it’s something where we’ve worked incredibly hard since 2013,” said Brasher, who rode the 60-mile event to see how well it worked. “The London marathon is 40 years old. With RideLondon, this is the eighth edition. Meaningful change doesn’t happen quickly.

“It’s so important to make cycling accessible for everybody. With the Freecycle at the same time, this is one day in London for everyone.”

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Absence of DRS was unlucky, set off chain of events that went against us: Fleming

Stephen Fleming,CSK, IPL2022

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming termed the absence of DRS at the start of their innings as “unlucky”, saying it led to a chain of events that didn’t go in their favour in the IPL match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede stadium.

The absence of Decision Review System (DRS) due to a short-circuit at the Wankhede Stadium for 10 balls during the start of the innings cost CSK dearly as they became victim of dubious on-field umpiring calls.

While CSK opener Devon Conway failed to get his LBW decision overturned after replays suggested that the Daniel Sams’ delivery would have missed the leg-stump by a distance, Robin Uthappa too got out LBW to Jasprit Bumrah in the next over, in what looked like a 50-50 call.

“It was a little bit unlucky that it happened at that time,” Fleming said about the absence of DRS at the post-match press conference.

CSK DRS CSK lost Devon Conway lbw for a golden duck in the very first over. But Conway was unable to review what looked like a tight call at best with the ball angled in and hitting Conway in front of leg stump. (Twitter)

“We were a little disappointed, but that’s still part of the game, isn’t it? It sort of set off a chain of events that were not in our favour, but we should be better than that. It certainly wasn’t a great start.” The five-wicket loss to MI on Thursday ended CSK’s IPL campaign this year with two matches remaining.

Although disappointed, Fleming now wants to look at the positives.

“There were really some positive signs. The new ball bowling of Mukesh (Chaudhary) and Simarjeet (Singh) was outstanding. We have been developing Mukesh all throughout the season so it’s good for him to be confident of bowling a spell like that.

“They have made some gains so that’s a positive with Deepak Chahar coming back into the side, we have some good new ball options. We are really positive about the pairing going forward,” he said.

“We haven’t been as good as we need to be, we are trying to find some pieces as we move forward.” Out of the play-off race, CSK will now test their bench strength in the remaining games.

“Now that we are out of the competition, we have got the opportunity to play some other guys in the last 2 games and hopefully find something there as well,” the coach said.

“We will finish looking for positives and opportunities for next season. We are not going to turn too much over but we do need to improve in some areas.” MI bowling coach Shane Bond hailed his bowlers’ comeback in the last few games.

He was particularly effusive in his praise for Bumrah and Sams.

“As a bowling unit we got better in the last 4-5 games, we have been aggressive with the way we bowled.

“Bums has bowled consistently well all season. He is such a consistent performer but often doesn’t get the wickets he deserves. I am pleased with the way he has bowled throughout the season,” Bond said.

Bond, however, was a bit disappointed with Sams’ batting efforts.

“Daniel Sams hasn’t shown the talent he has with the bat. We spoke about putting him up the order but unfortunately, he hasn’t grabbed that opportunity. It’s a move that didn’t pay off.

“He would admit that he was disappointed with his performance early in the tournament but he has worked really hard to a comeback with the ball. He has got better and better with the ball,” he said.