Posts: 2375
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:34 pm
I'm a gay Tory...so here's my take on the debacle.
I don't support the establishment of the $100 million dollar Marquee Fund in the first place. The federal government doesn't need to be subsidizing any non-national tourist events.
However, since there is the fund, I think Toronto Pride fits the criteria for funding quite well and was deserving of the $400,000 that (now somewhat demoted) Minister of Sport & Tourism Diane Ablonczy gave them. The Calgary Stampede and other tourist events get funding from this program, so Toronto Pride should to.
Apparently social conservatives in the party were outraged from seeing Minister Ablonczy in a photo op with drag queens and transgendered Canadians and opposed the funding. These grassroots social conservative members of the party went to their EDA (electoral district association) meetings and started complaining and threatening to half their donations to the party if something didn't happen. So it appears Harper catered to the social conservative faction of the party and demoted Ablonczy.
I wasn't very happy about that, and as a socially progressive member of the party I wrote a few letters of disappointment to the Prime Minister's Office and my Conservative MP.
It appears the PMO's response is that the transfer of authority of the Marquee Fund to Industry Minister Tony Clement was in the word before any of this controversy broke out. I somewhat have trouble believing that considering I know the social conservatives are a big faction in the Conservative Party (particularly in the rural ridings). No, I'm not admitting social conservative run the party. They don't. Their views are unelectable. However they are a large faction in the party. These people are the ones who elected Stockwell Day the leader of the Canadian Alliance.
CKA Elite 
