The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) has a new explanation for a recent decision on marching in this summer’s Capital Pride parade, saying two years of “political activism and unplanned disruptions” have triggered worries about student safety.
It says board staff will still attend the event “to represent the board,” though it is recommending that students don’t take part.
But the head of Capital Pride said the event is safe and faulted OCDSB leadership for never even speaking with organizers to try to work out any concerns.
Asked Monday whether it had in fact decided not to participate this year and why, OCDSB spokesperson Diane Pernari referred CBC to the school calendar, noting that the Aug. 30 parade falls just before the beginning of the next school year.
Two elected public school trustees questioned that explanation, since the calendar has never led OCDSB to sit out the parade before.
But in an email to a concerned parent this week, OCDSB CEO Stacey Kay provided a totally different set of reasons.
“This decision was made following an assessment of student safety and operational predictability and risks,” the email read.
Kay then pointed to “successive years of unexpected challenges.”
CBC asked the OCDSB for comment on its explanations and requested an interview with Kay or supervisor Bob Plamondon, but Pernari only provided a written response.
“Our position has not changed,” she wrote. “This decision has always been about student safety. In recent years, repeated disruptions, unexpected changes to the event, communication breakdowns, and the cancellation of the parade while students and staff were participating have made it increasingly difficult to ensure students can participate safely.
“Based on those concerns, senior board staff, including the superintendent of the equity and diversity portfolio, recommended that students not take part in the parade because the board cannot guarantee student safety. Board staff will continue to attend the event to represent the Board.”
Gaza activism at centre of concerns
In 2024, Capital Pride issued a “solidarity with Palestine” statement in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that began in autumn 2023 and then made a series of commitments, including to recognize what it called an “ongoing genocide” and to look at joining a boycott campaign.
Several organizations including OCDSB pulled out of the parade in response.
In her email this week, Kay referred to “a sudden and unexpected shift in messaging” that “altered the nature of the event.” She did not explicitly use the terms Gaza or Palestine.
“Because this new direction did not align with the district’s intentions or expectations for student participation, the OCDSB made the difficult decision to withdraw,” she said.
Participants wave the Palestinian flag and Pride flags as they march in the Capital Pride parade in Ottawa on Aug. 25, 2024. (Chris Tanouye/The Canadian Press)
Last year, the war in Gaza loomed over the parade yet again, as activist group Queers for Palestine halted the parade mid-march and issued its own set of demands, forcing Capital Pride to cancel the event.
“Students and staff were left waiting without information before being directed to leave our float and exit the pathway,” Kay said. “This breakdown in execution and communication caused significant distress to the students in our care.”
Her email said that the OCDSB has a duty to limit safety concerns and deliver a positive experience for students, staff and families whenever it sanctions or promotes an event. Kay said the past two years have challenged its ability to fulfil that responsibility.
“While political activism and unplanned disruptions are a reality of large-scale events in the nation’s capital, they introduce variables that the board cannot control or mitigate on behalf of our students,” she said.
“Because we cannot confidently guarantee the intended outcomes of success and safety at this event, staff recommended against official institutional alignment.”
She said the decision does not diminish the OCDSB’s own celebration of Pride, nor its commitment to creating safe, inclusive and welcoming environments for 2SLGBTQ+ students.
‘Pride born out of political activism’
Callie Metler, executive director of Capital Pride, said OCDSB has made no attempt to speak or work with her organization to find a path forward. She said months of planning go into making the parade as safe and secure as possible.
“On what authority does the OCDSB have to decide that a permitted event like this that’s so prominent in the city is not a safe event to take part of?” she asked.
As just one example of how Capital Pride is preparing, she said leaders of all groups participating in the parade will have a direct line to organizers during the event.
“We’re happy to continue having those conversations and to continue facilitating feelings of safety and security for every group that wants to participate and that offer extends to the OCDSB still at this point as well,” she said.
Capital Pride executive director Callie Metler. (Jodie Applewaithe/CBC)
Metler was also incredulous over Kay’s concerns about seeing political activism at Pride.
“Pride is born out of political activism,” she said. “We celebrate Pride in Ottawa in August to mark the anniversary of the first large-scale protest for gay rights in Canada, so for the school board to obscure that really important history, it’s actually offensive.”
CBC asked whether divisions over the conflict in Gaza are likely to again become a flashpoint at the parade, and Metler said this year’s theme of “together we shine” is meant to focus attention on issues facing the local 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Asked about the OCDSB’s messaging, she called it an “unhelpful flurry” of “public scrambling,” especially in light of a lack of communication with her organization.
“It signals a lack of engagement in the local community, in the local issues and in the local meaning of what Pride is in Ottawa,” she said.
Trustee calls OCDSB ‘hypocritical’
Donna Blackburn, the elected public school trustee for Barrhaven, helped push for the school board to participate in its first Pride parade in 2011. She said it was always clear to her — and should have been clear to the OCDSB leadership — that the first excuse about the school calendar was never going to fly.
But she also has questions about the new rationale regarding student safety.
“Based on the conversations I’ve had, all of the operational concerns have been addressed by the organizers,” she said.
Elected OCDSB trustee Donna Blackburn. (Arthur White-Crummey/CBC)
She wonders whether the real reason is simply a lack of support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, especially in light of a decision last month to cancel a drag storytime event at Mutchmor Public School. She called it “highly hypocritical.”
“I’m very disappointed,” she said. “The OCDSB has been a leader, a leader in this city amongst the school boards. All of the other school boards except the Ottawa Catholic followed us into the Pride parade…. That was progress.”