Winnipeg Pride marches on during Manitoba's ongoing state of emergency over wildfires
Thousands more people cheered and waved flags in support of the 2SLGBTQ+ community as they lined up along the smoky parade route from the Manitoba Legislature to The Forks, where Pride Festival events were planned to run into the evening.
Pride Winnipeg president Barry Karlenzig said it's not only an important time for the community to come together, but also to acknowledge Pride's roots as a political protest movement.
"It is a time to be loud and proud but also acknowledge what is going on up north," Karlenzig said, referring to the wildfires.
He said Pride Winnipeg is donating half of the scholarship money raised over the weekend to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to help First Nations that have had to evacuate.
"What Pride means to me is recognizing and remembering those who paved the way for where you are today and making sure that we take our privilege and our power to build it forward for the next generation," he said.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew was among the thousands marching on Sunday.
"This year, it's very unique with the wildfires. So we're celebrating Pride within a state of emergency," Kinew told CBC, adding that Pride could be a positive outlet for people affected by wildfire evacuations.
"It's important for us to move ahead with Pride because even in these more challenging moments, it's still a good opportunity for Manitobans to show who we are as a province," he said.
Winnipeggers of all ages came out to celebrate Pride on Sunday.
Terra Morrissette, who attended the parade with her children, told CBC News it's important for her to be at Pride to show her children that she loves them and supports them for exactly who they are.
"It's always nice to see everybody coming out as a community, whether you are gay, straight, bi, trans, an ally. It's so nice that everybody can come together and be prideful of who you are," Terra said.
Her son Fizz Morrissette has been attending the Pride parade for the past four years and said he feels like he can express himself fully there.
"Having this parade every year just means so much to me because I get to be myself to my full extent," he said.
Representatives from school divisions also walked in the parade, as students and educators showed up for 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
Teacher Jeremy Stubler said he brought his family to the event on Sunday to support the students he works with, while showing his young son the importance of acceptance.
"We want him to know when he grows up that he can be whoever he wants and do whatever he wants and being at an event like this is really important to see that," Stubler said.
He said Pride is also a fun, colourful and exciting event for everyone.
To Stephanie Cielen, Pride is "just pure happiness" and is an event that she looks forward to "every day of the year."
"This brings me more joy than anything," she said.
This year, Pride Winnipeg's Karlenzig said about 140 organizations walked and rolled down the streets with colourful displays. That's nearly triple the number of entries compared to when he first started with Pride Winnipeg a decade and a half ago.
Six marching bands helped provide the soundtrack, playing popular songs from artists like Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan.
"I'm feeling absolutely amazing to see the amount of diversity today, the amount of floats and the passion," Karlenzig said.
"It just brings a tear to my eye after 15 years."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Air Canada suspends restart plans after union defies return-to-work order
Air Canada said it suspended plans to restart operations on Sunday after the union representing 10,000 flight attendants said it would defy a return-to-work order. The Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered airline staff back to work by 2pm on Sunday after the government intervened and Air Canada said it planned to resume flights Sunday evening. Canada's largest airline now says it will resume flights Monday evening. Air Canada said in a statement that the union 'illegally directed its flight attendant members to defy a direction from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board'. 'Our members are not going back to work,' Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) national president Mark Hancock said earlier on Sunday outside Toronto's Pearson International Airport. 'We are saying no.' The federal government did not immediately provide comment on the union refusing to return to work. Mr Hancock said the 'whole process has been unfair' and said the union would challenge what it called an unconstitutional order. 'Air Canada has really refused to bargain with us and they refused to bargain with us because they knew this government would come in on their white horse and try and save the day,' he said. The federal government did not immediately provide comment on the union refusing to return to work. The country's largest airline had said early on Sunday in a release that the first flights would resume later in the day but that it would take several days before its operations returned to normal. It said some flights would be cancelled over the next seven to 10 days until the schedule was stabilised. Less than 12 hours after workers walked off the job, federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu ordered the 10,000 flight attendants back to work, saying now was not the time to take risks with the economy and noting the unprecedented tariffs the US had imposed on Canada. Ms Hajdu referred the work stoppage to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The airline said the Canada Industrial Relations Board had extended the term of the existing collective agreement until a new one was determined by the arbitrator. The shutdown of Canada's largest airline early on Saturday was impacting about 130,000 people a day. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. According to numbers from aviation analytics provider Cirium, Air Canada cancelled a total of 494 flights on Sunday morning. This was in addition to the hundreds of flights it cancelled in the previous days. The bitter contract fight escalated on Friday as the union turned down Air Canada's prior request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Flight attendants walked off the job around 1am Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Ms Hajdu said that her Liberal government was not anti-union, saying it was clear the two sides were at an impasse. Passengers whose flights were impacted would be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. Still, it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines were already full 'due to the summer travel peak'. Air Canada and CUPE have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides have said they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes are not in the air. The airline's latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions, over four years, that it said 'would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada'. But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year did not go far enough because of inflation.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
4 Things to know about the Air Canada labour dispute
After months of stalled negotiations, 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job early Saturday morning. The federal government stepped in hours later to order binding arbitration, forcing an end to the strike — or so they thought. The union representing Air Canada flight attendants said Sunday it would defy the back-to-work order and remain on strike. Here's everything you need to know: 1. Government intervention The federal government used a contentious section of labour law to intervene and stop the strike, which began at 12:58 a.m. ET Saturday. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which gives the minister the power to order the end of a work stoppage to "maintain or secure industrial peace." Hajdu used her powers to direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order both the airline and the striking workers back to work. Air Canada said Sunday it had been directed by CIRB to resume operations and have flight attendants return to their duties by 2 p.m. ET. Hajdu says she chose to intervene in the labour dispute because "the potential for immediate negative impact on Canadians and our economy is simply too great." "Now is not the time to take risks with our economy," said Hajdu at a news conference in Ottawa Saturday. "A work stoppage would cause thousands of Canadians to be stranded abroad and across this country and this is simply unacceptable." WATCH | How Hajdu intervened in the Air Canada labour dispute: Until recently, Section 107 was a relatively unknown piece of legislation. But last year, the Liberal government invoked it in several major disputes — sending unionized employees back to work at ports, rail yards and Canada Post. Unions are taking the federal government to court for its repeated use of Section 107, arguing it violates Canadians' constitutional right to strike and sours the bargaining process. 2. Union defies back-to-work order The Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said Sunday morning it will defy the back-to-work order handed down by CIRB. Picket lines remain outside of airports in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. In a statement Sunday, the union pointed to "a staggering conflict of interest" involving the chair of CIRB, Maryse Tremblay, who served as legal counsel for Air Canada for nearly seven years from 1998 to 2004, according to her LinkedIn profile. | Air Canada had been advocating in recent days for government intervention to resolve the bargaining impasse. "We will be challenging this blatantly unconstitutional order that violates the Charter rights of 10,000 flight attendants, 70 per cent of whom are women, and 100 per cent of whom are forced to do hours of unpaid work by their employer every time they come to work," the union said. Air Canada and CUPE have been negotiating a new contract for flight attendants after the previous 10-year contract expired in March. CUPE says that wages, work rules and unpaid hours are the big issues in contention. According to CUPE, many duties performed by flight attendants prior to boarding and after deplaning, including performing required safety checks and assisting passengers, go unpaid under the current pay structure. 3. Potential union penalties The federal government has invoked Section 107 a number of times in recent years. But it is unusual for a union to defy a CIRB order. "The penalties could be significant" for the union, labour law expert Adam King told CBC News in an interview. Defying a legal back-to-work order could result in fines for the union or workers being fired. It could also lead to criminal prosecution in some cases. WATCH | Picket lines remain at major Canadian airports: In 1978, members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers were ordered back to work during a national strike. Union president Jean-Claude Parrot defied that order, with workers staying on the picket lines for a week after it was issued. Parrot was jailed for two months for refusing to comply. But King says it's also possible that CUPE's refusal to comply could work in the union's favour. He pointed to the example of Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government ordering CUPE's education workers back to work when they went on strike in 2022. "The entire labour movement in the province responded with the threat of a general strike. And the government was forced to back down and take their legislation away," said King. "If something similar happens here, we could very well see no penalties. If labour mobilizes in support of the flight attendants, they could very well be victorious in this." CBC News has reached out to Hajdu for comment on how the government will respond and will update this story with any response. 4. What does this mean for flights? Air Canada said in a statement Sunday that it will suspend plans to resume operations after CUPE indicated its intentions to remain on strike. The airline says 240 flights that were scheduled to operate beginning this afternoon have now been cancelled. The airline said it will resume flights as of Monday evening. With flight attendants refusing to return to work, it is unclear how Air Canada plans to operate these flights. CBC News has reached out to the airline for clarification. Flights by Air Canada Express, which are operated by third-party airlines Jazz and PAL, are not affected. About 130,000 customers will be affected each day the strike continues, the airline said last week. WATCH | The impact of the flight attendants' strike on travellers: The airline says customers whose flights have been cancelled will be notified and are "strongly advised" not to go to the airport unless they have confirmed flights on other airlines. Air Canada will offer those with cancelled flights other options, including a refund or credit for future travel. For customers due to travel soon, the airline said it will also offer to rebook customers on other carriers, "although capacity is currently limited due to the peak summer travel season."
Skift
10 hours ago
- Skift
Air Canada Flight Attendants Continue Strike, Defying Government Orders
Air Canada said Sunday it would shut down operations again as flight attendants defied the Canadian government's back-to-work order. The carrier added that it plans to resume operations Monday evening. The Canadian government attempted to stop the flight attendant strike on Saturday by imposing binding arbitration on the union and Air Canada. After the government said it would intervene, Air Canada announced Saturday morning th
