Security will be increased at this year's Toronto Pride Parade in the wake of the mass shooting at an Orlando LGBT nightclub.
Mathieu Chantelois, Executive Director of Pride Toronto, sat down with Toronto police, RCMP and staff from the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday go over the security plans in place for the Pride parade, which will see thousands of individuals descend on the city’s downtown core in less than three weeks.
The meeting was called after a gunman opened fire on the crowd at a popular gay club in Orlando, killing 49 people and leaving dozens of others injured.
The Orlando massacre was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
It’s important for Canadians to show their support for the LGBT community in the wake of the Orlando shooting, Chantelois said Monday.
“We know that these things are possible, but at the same time we can't stop the work we are doing,” he said. “This is why Pride is still relevant after 36 years, and that's why we’ll be marching.”
This year's Pride parade will be dedicated the victims of the attack.
"We want people to get out, to march with us, to talk with us, to be at the parade, to dance with us, to go in the gay clubs," Chantelois told reporters following the meeting with Toronto police. "We have to be strong as a community. We have to be out there, and we have to be visible."
Chantelois said organizers have not yet finalized to what degree security and police presence at the parade will be increased. He added that the security budget for this year’s parade will be also be increased.
"But the chief of police was really clear that whatever we need, we will get to make sure that the festival is a safe place to be," he added.
Chantelois told CTV News Channel earlier on Monday that the security plan in place for Toronto Pride events is already "pretty robust."
Meanwhile, hundreds of members of Toronto's gay community gathered on Sunday night to honour the victims of the Florida shooting spree.
A makeshift memorial in the city’s gay village continued to grow on Monday as dozens of people dropped off flowers and cards for the victims.
Chantelois said the vigil showed that members of the LGBT community are not scared.
"People understand that it's important, now more than ever, to be out, to be mobilized as community and to show love,” he said. “We are lucky and blessed to be in a city like Toronto, where what we get most of the time is love."
Members of Toronto’s LGBT community say the impact of the Orlando shooting has been felt by gay and transgender people everywhere.
“One of my bartenders who has a big social media following was actually following somebody who was actually inside the (Orlando) club,” said Shawn Riker, owner of Fly 2.0, a popular LGBT nightclub in Toronto. “When you actually put faces to the bodies, that’s the worst part. I want to cry because it looks like my customers.”
Chantelois said members of the LGBT community come together for Pride events to feel a sense of belonging and to “be themselves.”
"So safety is obviously is a big issue, and we need to make sure our Pride is as safe as possible."
Chantelois said gay clubs are supposed to serve as one of the safest environments for members of the LGBT community, which makes the massacre in Orlando even more distressing.
"It's still challenging for me to hold hands with my boyfriend on the street, or kiss him on the street," he said. "But when you go in a gay club, you feel like you can truly be yourself."
He continued: "The fact that the killer went to a gay club is even harder for all of us -- even in a place where we think we're the safest, we're not."
With a report from CTV’s John Vennavally-Rao and CTV Toronto’s Janice Golding
