An Edmonton Pride Festival organizer has revealed that this weekend’s parade was the target of a bomb threat and says the organization stands by the level of police presence it had at this year’s event.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Trevor Watson, the festival’s executive producer, said a local NDP MLA first reported to police several weeks ago that someone called their office and threatened the parade.
“Safety is not experienced the same way by everyone,” Watson said as he acknowledged that some people voiced concerns about the level of police presence at this year’s festival. “A measure intended to protect one person can cause another person fear, anxiety or distress.
“We understand that seeing some of these measures without warning could particularly be difficult for members within our community, especially those whose relationships and experiences with policing may be very different from our own.”
The Edmonton Pride Festival and the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) would not confirm which MLA’s office was called when the threat was made.
“We are required to take credible security threats about public events to the legislative assembly’s sergeant-at-arms to investigate,” Sean Amato, director of communications for Alberta’s New Democrat caucus, said in a statement to CBC News.
He added that no further comment can be given on any specific security concerns.
Deputy Chief Nicole Chapdelaine said EPS’ hate crimes unit investigated the threat and found it was not credible.
“However, that does not minimize the impact or fear and concern it causes,” she said.
Watson said the Edmonton Pride Festival was faced with a difficult decision.
“We had to ask ourselves a very simple question, and that is, would publicly disclosing the threat make our community safer?” he said. “At the time, we did not believe that it would.”
The Edmonton Pride Festival has been caught in a firestorm of backlash as multiple 2SLGBTQ+ groups pulled out of their involvement in the event, which included the Pride parade that took place over the weekend, saying they felt unsafe or uncomfortable with the planned police presence.
Concerns raised ranged from the legacy of a historic police raid on an Edmonton bathhouse, racial profiling concerns, encampment sweeps and police responses to various other protests in the city.
A wave of miscommunication and misinformation also led to the current situation, Watson said.
“At no point did Pride Fest announce a massive deployment of cops,” he said in response to some claims on social media that there would be an increased number of EPS members at this year’s event.
However, he did speak about changes made to safety protocols in light of the bomb threat.
“What changed was the nature and visibility of some of the safety measures being taken, and that distinction matters.”
The changes to protocol included EPS searching garbage cans or any places that could contain a hazardous device, along with managing traffic points and ensuring that the parade could go ahead without any disruption.
“We knew that the presence of that, before the parade started, could cause fear within our community,” Watson said.
“So that’s why we felt it was very important to let our community know you may see an increased presence.”
Watson said ultimately there was no choice but to use EPS.
“There is no alternative besides EPS when it comes to public safety in terms of blocking roadways, patrolled intersections,” he said.
“This is the law, so I’m puzzled. So if members of our community do not want this to be the law, they need to start advocating to change the law, rather than advocating for me to break the law.”
CBC News requested further comment from EPS whether their officers’ presence was legally required for the parade.
“It is not a legal requirement for events to have Edmonton Police Service members present, but for large-scale events, immediate access to trained police officers is essential,” Nancy Carlson, a supervisor at EPS’ media relations unit, said in a statement to CBC News.
“EPS officers also have the legal authority to enforce laws under the Criminal Code of Canada, City of Edmonton bylaws or the Traffic Safety Act.
“Police officers are essential for addressing criminal or high-risk behaviour, issuing enforcement under legal statutes and responding to emergent threats.”
Jo-Mary Crowchild Fletcher is a two-spirit vendor from the Tsuut’ina Nation who pulled out of the festival.
“Many community members — from Indigenous to the Black community, the trans[gender] community — have all shared what harm has been done by the police force, and the response from the Pride festival hasn’t been [one of] listening. It hasn’t been filled with compassion,” they said in an interview with CBC News.
“It’s been more of that defensive nature, which does no healing and it doesn’t reach for a solution. … So it just puts us all in that hard spot of like, what do we do next? How can we move forward?”
Watson acknowledged and apologized for the way the changes to safety protocols were communicated to people who were marching at the parade or simply attending it.
“To our trans, non-binary and gender diverse community, to our Black community, to our Indigenous and two-spirit community and to every QTBIPOC (Queer Transgender Black Indigenous Person of Colour) person who felt frightened, hurt or unwelcome because of how this was communicated, we hear you, we love you and from the bottom of our hearts, we apologize,” Watson said.
“The very people we were trying to protect should never have been left wondering whether we were protecting them. If our communication failed you, we are sorry. If our words cause you pain, we ask for your forgiveness and we will learn from it.”
Watson said a mediation process will be held in the fall with community groups to better understand how to move forward.
At Tuesday’s news conference, officials with both EPS and the Edmonton Pride Festival spoke to the growing concern surrounding the safety of 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
Data presented to the Edmonton police commission in April shows that the 2SLGBTQ+ community was the target of hate crimes more than any other group in the city in 2025.
Earlier this year, city officials said Edmonton-specific data between 2020 and 2025 shows there has been an upward trend in hate crimes and incidents targeting the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
