City won’t throw decorative pride wrap under the bus

Despite rumour, the City will still run a ‘pride bus’ and will not pull decorative wrap that supports Calgary’s upcoming pride parade.

The bus began its run on Route 2 at 4:15 p.m. Monday.

Jeff Fielding, city manager, stepped in front of the media earlier in the afternoon to speak candidly after a Calgary Transit driver publicly rebuked the bus.

“We live in a community today where we had 40,000 people move to the city last year, 54 per cent of those people are not only new to Calgary but they’re new to Canada, and that we embrace people from all walks of life. I just find it unfortunate that we’re still sort of embroiled in these types of conversations today,” Fielding said.

“Certainly from our perspective we’re aligning to the principals of inclusion, diversity and respect, and I think all people are welcome here in this city and there shouldn’t be any concerns over what walk of life they come from.”

Fielding said the city believes council and administration are doing the right things and that they have the support of the community.

He could not comment extensively on personal related matters but said they have not received a declaration from the employee stating whether he would want to drive the bus or not.

Last week, a Calgary Transit driver publicly stated he would quit his job if forced to drive the pride-supporting bus because of his religious beliefs.

He has since stated some in management are trying to now silence him by threatening his job with false accusations about his driving behavior.

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