The passage of another summer season means another look back at those companies and government entities that kept ?gay pride? events afloat for another year. Starting from the West and moving east ?
Vancouver Pride Day 2008 was supported by sponsors including the 24 Hours newspaper,CTV, Edgewater Casino, Pepsi/Aquafina, Schick, Shaw, Tourism Vancouver, Vancity, Molson, The Beat 94.5 FM and Zipcar.
Edmonton Pride Week sponsors included the Alberta Federation of Labour, the Alberta Union of Public Employees, the Alberta Liberal Caucus, Mayor Stephen Mandel, theDowntown Business Association, Bacardi Canada, Inc., MLA Laurie Blakeman andBounce 91.7 FM.
The Saskatoon Pride Festival featured sponsorship from the StarPhoenix newspaper, SaskTel, the University of Saskatchewan Archives, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and the Saskatoon NDP. Funding came from SaskCulture, Saskatchewan Lotteries, SaskFestivals, the Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Society and the City of Saskatoon.
Winnipeg Pride was supported by the Assiniboine Credit Union, CKUW 95.9 and MTS Allstream.
The Windsor, Ont. Pride festival was backed by A-Channel, AM 800 CKLW, 93.9 The River, the Windsor Star, VIA Rail Canada, Caesars Windsor, the Windsor & Essex County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Canadian Autoworkers Local 444, theWindsor Family Credit Union, Transit Windsor, Home Outfitters, Re/Max Capital Inc.and Scotiabank.
The Pride London, Ont. Festival had sponsors including the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Rogers TV, Mainstreet London, Real.ca, Goodlife Fitness, VIA Rail Canada, CHRW 94.9 FM, TD Bank Financial Group, Labatt, the city of London and Smirnoff. It also received donations from city councillors Cheryl Miller, Bernie MacDonald, Stephen Orser, Roger Caranci and Bill Armstrong.
The Hamilton Pride Festival was supported by VIA Rail Canada, Labatt Breweries, Investor?s Group, the City of Hamilton, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, Great Glasses, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and Bailey?s.
Pride Toronto included on its list of sponsors: Budweiser, TD Canada Trust, VIA Rail Canada, Polar Ice Vodka, Ontario Lottery and Gaming, CTV, Pepsi, Aquafina, Rogers, Motorola, Fido, Pizza Pizza, York University, P and G Canada and the Toronto Star. Public monies were provided by Canadian Heritage, the province of Ontario, the City of Toronto and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Capital Pride in Ottawa included among its sponsors Family Services Ottawa, Goodlife Fitness, the Embassy of Israel in Canada, the Metro newspaper, Mike?s Hard Lemonade, the city of Ottawa, Ottawa Tourism and VIA Rail Canada.
Divers/Cite in Montreal was supported by the province of Quebec, the Government of Canada, the city of Montreal, Tourism Montreal, TD Canada Trust, Loto Quebec, Air Canada, the Archambault media company, College Lasalle, Le Devoir, the 24 Hours newspaper, the CBC, Musique Plus, Nuevo Mundo television, Energie 94.3 FM and Q 92 FM.
Sponsors of Quebec City?s gay pride parade included the Desjardins Caisse Populaire de Quebec, Boreale brewery, the province of Quebec and Quebec City.
In the Atlantic provinces, the St. John?s, Nfld. gay pride parade drew just 100 people, while in Moncton, N.B., Mike?s Hard Lemonade, RBC Insurance, Moosehead Lager andDowntown Moncton supported the event there. In Halifax, Casino Nova Scotia, theMariott Halifax Harbourfront hotel and the Delta Barrington & Halifax hotel were sponsors.