TORONTO - Premier Doug Ford marched in the York Region Pride parade today with officers from the local police service, surprising alot of people in attendance - including organizers.
"We found out moments before the parade actually left - and actually we found out from the news media asking us questions, so it was a surprise, so we're not sure how that happened."
When asked by a reporter if the premier's presence had somehow politicized their event, the organizer goes on to say, "We don't have any political agendas. York Pride strives on being a family-friendly non-political organization and that's - as I said, these are the people that we celebrate. We're not aligned with politics."
The premier was joined by Caroline Mulroney, Attorney General of Ontario and MPP for York-Simcoe, as well as Deputy Premier Christine Elliott, MPP for Newmarket-Aurora.
Ford's involvement in the event comes after he said last week that he would participate in some Pride month events.
But the premier has said he won't go to the Toronto Pride parade because of a decision to prevent uniformed police officers from marching in it.
Uniformed officers were first banned from that parade in 2017 over concerns of racial profiling.
Ford has also said he has no problem going to Pride events and that they are a great boost to the economy.
The premier's office confirmed today that Ford participated in the York event in Markham, Ontario.
With files from Heather Seaman