Thunder Pride is going to use $123,000 from FedNor to expand 2SLGBTIQ+ tourism in northwestern Ontario.
The local group is going to expand their festivals and experiences, including Pride celebrations in June. It typically attracts around 10,000 people to the region each year.
In 2020, the festival will be extended to 20 days, up from 16 days in 2019 finishing with the Pride parade and street party.
Thunder Pride Chair Jason Veltri says the money will also be used to hire a full-time coordinator for their activities.
The funding will also help put on a major conference from January 26 to 29, 2021. They are hosting the Fierté Canada Pride National Conference and Annual General Meeting.
“These conferences aren’t cheap to put on,” Veltri admits. “And they take a lot of money and effort. So now we’ve hit the ground running with a good chunk of that funding that’s required to put this on.”
The event is expected to bring between 150 and 200 delegates from Pride organizations nationwide to attend workshops and discuss issues affecting the 2SLGBTIQ+ community.
Veltri calls the funding a “game-changer.”
“This transforms us into a governance board with staff that can take on added capacity, to not just help Thunder Bay but help our northwestern Ontario partners,” Veltri explains, emphasizing it will also be a huge help for other Pride groups in the region to be able to attend the conference. He adds they are also interested in supporting communities along the North Shore start their own Pride groups.
The funding was announced by Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu, who feels this will give the organization a leg up with their grassroots work.
“When we put a little bit of resource into an organization like Thunder Pride so that they can hire, for example, a full-time co-ordinator, that just allows them to grow even bigger and to do even bigger things. I’m looking forward to what they’ll do with this new opportunity,” Hajdu says.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski feels expanding the festivities will help attract more tourists to the city, and bring more traffic to local businesses.
