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An Ottawa woman says she’s frustrated that she keeps finding debris leftover from elaborate “promposals” in public spaces — including at the Kìwekì Point lookout.
A promposal is an elaborately staged invitation to high school prom, often filmed so it can be shared on social media.
But one recent proposal cluttered up Kìwekì Point, the scenic lookout over the Ottawa River behind the National Gallery of Canada.
“It’s particularly frustrating in a space like this,” said Brittany Paulhus, who gathered up litter at the point earlier this week.
That litter, she said, included tea lights, an aerosol can filled with silly string, fireworks, part of the word “prom” spelled out with balloon letters and scores of fake plastic rose petals.
Finding the mess at a site where there are plaques explaining the Algonquin connection to the water below is especially galling, Paulhus said.
“You could make a little mosaic out of fallen leaves, or spell ‘PROM’ out of little twigs,” she suggested.
“It’s already beautiful. It’s already romantic. I don’t think we need to add this kind of thing to make it romantic. Microplastics? Not romantic.”
Paulhus says she’s also seen litter from promposals at other public spaces in Ottawa, including along the Rideau Canal.
Brittany Paulhus said it was ‘particularly frustrating’ to find litter from a recent ‘promposal’ at Ottawa’s Kìwekì Point, a scenic outlook above the Ottawa River. (Stu Mills/CBC)Intended for environmental reflection
Formerly known as Nepean Point, Kìwekì Point reopened to the public in May 2025 after an ambitious makeover that included a redesigned lookout, a pedestrian bridge and new public art.
All that litter is especially unfortunate in a place that’s meant in part for reflection on Algonquin teachings about the environment, said Veldon Coburn, a member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation who teaches Indigenous relations at McGill University.
The vista at Kìwekì Point bears the scars of 300 years of colonial development, Coburn said. While “younger folks might be forgiven” for finding it a romantic spot for their promposals, Coburn said visitors should adopt the Algonquin ethos of stewardship.
“[If] they’re old enough to propose to one another or invite each other to prom, they’re old enough to pick up their garbage and take that back home,” he said.
That’s also the message from the head of the National Capital Commission.
“I think the response is disappointment on our part,” said CEO Tobi Nussbaum, noting that the NCC worked hard to “create this beautiful public space for all.”
Nussbaum said Kìwekì Point has been enormously popular since it reopened and he urged visitors to enjoy it by leaving it as they found it.