The parade was officially cancelled at around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, after pro-Palestinian supporters halted the annual event…
Ottawa’s annual Capital Pride Parade was cancelled yesterday after hundreds of Palestinian supporters blocked the intersection of Wellington Street and O’Connor Avenue. The protests began about an hour after the parade began. Capital Pride posted an official cancellation notice on its Instagram at around 3:00 p.m. yesterday. About 11,000 marchers were estimated to be participating in this year’s event.
Rerouting the parade was not an option according to event organizers. It noted street closure permits were set to expire at 4:00 p.m.
Why was the Capital Pride Parade cancelled?
The parade was halted by the Ottawa chapter of the advocacy group Queers for Palestine (Q4P). The group was invited by this year’s Parade Grand Marshall, Patience Plush, to march. Q4P stopped the parade to issue a set of demands directed at both Capital Pride and Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe.
“We will not leave until our elected officials and Capital Pride come down and meet our demands,” said Masha Davidovic, a member of Queers for Palestine-Ottawa group, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
The organization called on Capital Pride “to be brave, public, and transparent to the community about the commitments they have made, and about their pro-Palestine values.” It asked the organization to host a BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) town hall as one of its demands. BDS is the use of economic pressures to force corporations, banks and other entities to withdraw support from Israel. It also asked for support towards the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
The group demanded mayor Mark Sutcliffe to “apologize to the community for boycotting Pride last year, due to its pro-Palestine stance.” They also asked him to support all oppressed peoples, including Palestinians.
The mayor along with elected officials and groups boycotted the 2024 parade. This was after a statement by Capital Pride sharing its solidarity with the Palestinians. Capital Pride removed the statement earlier this month from its website.
On the Q4P Instagram post, the organization noted the mayor had a choice. “He could come up to talk to the folks leading the parade or he could leave the parade. Instead, he let Capital Pride cancel our parade…”
What did Capital Pride and the mayor say about the cancellation?
In a statement, Capital Pride confirmed Q4P was invited to march in the parade. It also said it had several meetings with Q4P, as well as other organizations, to discuss issues important to them.
“As a community organization we strive to engage with our community members in good faith and to balance the various interests and demands that are made of us while also organizing one of the largest festivals in our city,” the Capital Pride statement, posted to Instagram, read.
The statement goes on to read that after an hour of attempting to come to resolution that it became clear that “Q4P was unwilling to engage in a good faith conversation and was insistent on misrepresenting our discussions”
The mayor also released a statement noting his attendance and acknowledging the blockade. “It’s deeply regrettable that a group of activists chose to block the parade,” his statement posted on social media read in part. “My heart goes out to the many people in our city who were deprived of the opportunity to participate in this celebration of joy, resilience, and community.”
Local media outlets requested interviews from both Capital Pride and the mayor. They were unable to secure anything before their deadlines.
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