The 38th annual Vancouver Pride Parade, headlined by Canada’s prime minister and his family, came off without a hitch on Sunday, making its way through the streets of the city with nary a hitch.
As 500,000 people thronged the sidewalks, Justin Trudeau became the first sitting prime minister to participate in the parade, which included 138 entries and thousands of marchers.
“It’s a time where the whole city, families, communities come out, we celebrate the great diversity that is such a strength of country,” he said.
Trudeau marched in the parade in 2014 and 2015 as leader of the Liberal Party.
In early July, he became the first sitting prime minister to march in Toronto’s Pride Parade, Canada’s largest.
There were no political disruptions Sunday, as there was in Toronto when members of the Black Lives Movement, briefly stopped that parade and issued a series of demands before allowing it to proceed.
The Vancouver chapter of Black Lives Matter, along with some other groups, sat out the Vancouver parade after failing to convince city and parade officials that police should not march, as they have for 20 years.
Another group, the queer Muslim group Salaam, planned to hold its own March of Monday in support of Black Lives matter because, members said, they did not feel safe participating because of the police participation.
With files from CBC, CP.
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