Revellers take part in the Toronto Caribbean Carnival in 2023. The city says it will spend $2.1-million to increase security at events such as this one.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The City of Toronto’s announcement that it will spend $2.1-million to increase security at festivals is being met with relief from local event organizers who say it is a first step toward developing a comprehensive plan to better protect pedestrians from hostile vehicle attacks.
Meg Marshall, who organizes July’s OssFest street festival, a one-day event showcasing trendy restaurants, boutiques and cafes on Ossington Avenue, applauded the city for stepping up to bolster security following the vehicle attack at last month’s Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver.
“It comforts us that the city isn’t cutting corners on providing the funding for safety,” she said. “We absolutely need to re-evaluate our current security plan and what makes sense in consultation with our local police department and the city emergency services department. The challenge comes down to dollars.”
Ms. Marshall is among festival organizers who have been calling on government to fund increased security. She attended a summit on festival funding at which Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced the funding. Shortly after the Monday event, Ms. Marshall heard about yet another hostile vehicle attack: A driver in Liverpool, England, swerved into a crowd of soccer fans at a parade, injuring 65 people.
“My heart sank. It’s awful. It’s disheartening. We just want to put on really great events for our communities, but we now have to be so much more cognizant,” she said.
Meg Marshall, of the Ossington business improvement area, has been calling on the City of Toronto to fund increased security for street events.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The funding will be distributed through a special events funding program the city launched in 2024, aimed at helping festival organizers meet rising operational costs, including security and public safety expenses. Toronto offered $2-million last year through the program to fund private security, road closure signs, various permits and “hostile vehicle mitigation,” such as physical barriers.
Mary Fragedakis, a former city councillor who runs the Greektown and the CityPlace Fort York business improvement areas, said the renewal of the special events program is a good start.
The program allows festival organizers to expense safety and security costs on a case-by-case basis, something that is very important in historic neighbourhoods such as Greektown, said Ms. Fragedakis.
“There are a lot of entry and exit points in a neighbourhood like Greektown. . . not like in a neighbourhood full of condos. . . there are just a lot of barricades that are needed in these older parts of the city,” she said.
However, Ms. Fragedakis stressed that there is a need to strike a balance, warning that too much security might push away would-be festival attendees.
“There needs to be sufficient security to make people feel comfortable ... but you want it to be subtle and not feel like it’s something out of some war movie or a military exercise,” she said.
Fundraising efforts continue for Lapu Lapu festival victims one month after attack
On Monday, Ms. Chow also announced that the city will provide a $100,000 seed grant to create a non-profit association through which festival organizers can share their needs and create joint ventures.
Ms. Fragedakis said the non-profit organization will hopefully reduce future costs as festival organizers can work together to co-ordinate and order resources in bulk, but that it is likely too late to help organizers this year.
Deputy Mayor Michael Colle said he pushed for the renewal of the special events funding program. “I called the mayor immediately after the tragic events at the Lapu-Lapu festival in Vancouver and I said we have to start drawing up a plan to deal with this potential threat given there seems to be a pattern that’s developing. We had Hamburg, New Orleans, Vancouver and then, yesterday, Liverpool.”
On Thursday, council approved a motion Mr. Colle put forward asking for Queen’s Park and Ottawa to step in with funds. The motion says that the attack in Vancouver “calls attention to how local festivals immediately require additional and enhanced security measures to help prevent potential similar tragic incidents.”
Ms. Marshall has made a similar plea.
“The city has indicated that safety requirements this year – and the costs associated with them, such as paid duty officer costs – have increased,“ she wrote in a letter to her local MPP and MP. ”Without co-ordinated multilevel support, many festivals may be forced to scale back or shut down entirely, undermining the vibrancy and livability of our cities and hurting our local economies.”