Organization demands Cambridge mayor resign following Pride ceremony incident
Posted Jun 8, 2026 07:34:17 AM.
Last Updated Jun 9, 2026 05:18:17 AM.
A march at Cambridge City Hall was held in response to actions taken by Cambridge Mayor Jan Liggett at a city-run Pride event last week.
On June 1, at the City of Cambridge-hosted pride event, Sophie Mills, a non-binary teen, was delivering the speech and began referencing actions taken by Cambridge Councillor Adam Cooper.
Liggett intervened at that moment to stop those comments, and a video posted online of the incident drew plenty of attention.
On Friday, Liggett posted a 10-minute response on social media defending the actions she took at the event.
In response, Grand River Pride has called for Liggett’s resignation and for the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario to be brought in to review her actions.
The organization repeated that call in a protest march in downtown Galt, Monday afternoon, ending with a rally in front of city hall in which Mills delivered the speech the mayor interrupted.
“Mayor Liggett, we reject your response,” said Grand River Pride in a post to social media. “You have ignored the voices of Cambridge and the impact you have caused. That was an extremely long video that said nothing.”
The organization had called for a boycott of the city-run Pride event, noting that they expected Liggett to repeat “harmful actions and create an unsafe and disrespectful environment.”
The statement from Grand River Pride is signed by Eric Bolton and Bryan Causarano-Bolton, the founders of the organization.
“We plan to give Sophie the opportunity to say the speech they prepared and expected to say, a week ago, right on the steps of city hall just as it was intended. Then we’ll celebrate. We’ll celebrate our queer stories.”
Causarano-Bolton reiterated the group’s call for the mayor to resign.
“Jan violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That is not a mayor. That’s not somebody who should be speaking on behalf of the people. And so yes, I think its time for Mayor Liggett to resign and if not, we’ll vote her out on October 26.”
