Did the Toronto Raptors Rally set a precedent for crowd control this summer?

BY SELINA McCALLUM

It’s been over a week since the Toronto Raptors won their first ever NBA championship on Thursday, June 13^th against the Golden State Warriors in game six at Oracle Arena in Oakland. Kawhi Leonard was named Finals MVP. The NBA Championship parade was announced to be held in Toronto on the morning of Monday, June 17^th.

The win was absolutely historic since the Raptors because the first non-American team to win the NBA title. The night the Raptors won, the city erupted with “We The North” chants and ensuring the whole world heard by climbing on vehicles, traffics lights, and TTC buses.

The day of the parade was no different. Fans from all over Ontario wanted to be part of the action and fun.

Bahara Eisah and her cousin drove three hours to Toronto from Kingston the night before to stay with a friend in Toronto to attend the parade at 7 a.m.

“I did not want to miss all the excitement. This is such a special moment for so many people no matter what background, race, or religion they are. I needed to be a part of that,” said Eisah.

Many felt the same way as they camped outside City Hall in front of the stage where the Raptors were expected to make their last stop just after noon to greet fans and give speeches.

The parade started at the Exhibition Place at 10 am and was meant to wrap up at Nathan Phillip Square by 12:30 pm. But that didn’t happen. It was 5 hours before the team and entourage made it to the stage at Nathan Phillips Square.

It was estimated that the double-decker bus that the Raptors team was on was moving at less than 1km a minute because of the number of people on the roads and sidewalks. NBA has reported that this was the longest championship parade in NBA history.

The square was filled to capacity as people of all ages, including young children, were side by side under the blazing sun, waiting for the Raptors to make it to the stage.

CBC’s Amanda Parris, the host of Marvin’s Room, was one of the many people who complained about the lack of organization and patrol of the parade.

She tweeted, “There are a lot of important issues to discuss after today’s violence but one that definitely shouldn’t be swept under the rug is the terrible planning. As someone who was at Nathan Philip’s Square for hours, I can tell you with confidence that it was a recipe for disaster.”

Several people in the square had fainted or felt dehydrated, but there were no designated exits or walkways, and many people would not move in fear of losing their view of the stage after standing there since the sun came up.

“There were few exits, even fewer bathroom facilities, no vendors selling water and barely any security or police in an area holding thousands of people in the blazing sun with little to no cover,” tweeted Parris.

To make matters worse, there was a reported shooting and stabbing, which caused a stampeded in the square. In total 4 people were admitted to the hospital. Children were separated from their parents in the commotions. Many were stepped on and lost personal items.

The Toronto police were fast to take control of the situation around Nathan Phillips Square and the Eaton Centre. They calmed everyone down, secured the area including nearby subway stations like Dundas and Osgoode.  

The City of Toronto knew they were expecting over one million people for the celebration, but the organization of the events was still poorly executed. Whether it was because of the short amount of time they had to plan it, or they truly did not know what to expect — the rally will surely be remembered as one of the worst crowd control situations in Toronto’s parade history.