The organizers of Ottawa’s Capital Pride festival say they’re looking forward to this Sunday’s parade after they had to cancel the flagship event last summer when it was halted mid-march by a local pro-Palestinian advocacy group.
“This year we have no reason to think that anything is going to happen during our parade,” said David Breault, the chair of Capital Pride’s board of directors.
“Obviously, we’re planning for issues if there are [any] just in case, but we’re very confident with how things are going.”
The parade’s cancellation last year had its roots in 2024, when Capital Pride posted a “Solidarity with Palestine” statement to its website.
The statement included several “commitments” relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including recognizing the “ongoing genocide” in Gaza and integrating a boycott list into its sponsorship reviews.
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa called the statement “antisemitic,” while other groups and people withdrew their support and sponsorship from some Pride Month events, among them Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Ottawa hospitals, school boards and the Liberal Party of Canada.
A ‘damaging’ loss last year
In the leadup to the 2025 parade, another group, Queers for Palestine Ottawa, called for the statement to be brought back after it was taken off Capital Pride’s website. Capital Pride said it was part of an “online refresh.”
“Capital Pride needs to choose between standing with us and standing with the institutions that boycotted and pressured them,” a Queers for Palestine spokesperson said last year.
As the parade got underway last August, Queers for Palestine blocked the road and demanded to negotiate with organizers, prompting Capital Pride to call off the event.
Masha Davidović, left, a member of Queers for Palestine Ottawa, argues with a Capital Pride attendee, during the 2025 parade. (Nathan Fung/CBC)
“The cancellation was disappointing, frustrating and, for some, damaging,” Capital Pride wrote in a post on its website earlier this month.
“We did not want to cancel the parade, but with growing reports of dehydration and heat stroke, the logistical limitations we faced around road closures and permits, coordination with emergency services, and the constraints of rerouting a parade of over 7,000 people in the downtown core, it was the only decision we could make in the interest of public safety.”
CBC reached out to Queers for Palestine this week but did not hear back. In a late July Instagram post, the group wrote, “We will not be at Capital Pride.” Instead, it planned to attend the Ottawa Trans March on Friday and the Ottawa Dyke March on Saturday.
“We’ve always been different from Capital Pride because we put our community at the centre and because we don’t accept money from corporations and we don’t answer to politicians,” said Kaytlyn Nadjiwon, an organizer with the Ottawa Dyke March.
Breault of Capital Pride told CBC that Queers for Palestine’s cause is important and that Capital Pride respects its decision to attend other events.
“Obviously we’re not the only ones who do things during Pride,” Breault said. “That’s the choice they’re obviously allowed to make. And so they’re going to continue to do the work they do and we’re going to continue doing the work that we do.”
Kaytlyn Nadjiwon is an organizer with the Ottawa Dyke March, which is holding its own parade on Saturday. (Francis Ferland/CBC)A ‘complex history’ with police
Pride events throughout the world this year have taken place amid heightened concerns for the safety of members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Last month, a man drove into a crowd in Berlin during the city’s annual celebrations, then got out and stabbed people with a machete. Ottawa police said in the wake of that event that it would be “proactively” attending some locations “to enhance visibility.”
More recently, the police presence at last weekend’s Pride parade in Edmonton, which organizers said was the target of a bomb threat, has been the source of intense debate in that city.
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) said this week it will have “a significant number of officers and resources” for the public’s safety during Sunday’s Capital Pride parade.
WATCH | Organizers on why police were needed at Edmonton Pride Festival:
Organizers say why police were needed at Edmonton Pride Festival
Some members of the city’s 2SLGBTQ+ community boycotted this year’s Edmonton Pride Festival over police involvement. On Tuesday, police revealed they investigated a bomb threat related to the event, weeks before it happened. Event organizers said that’s one reason police were needed.
The involvement of OPS is “a complicated piece,” Breault said.
“The queer community has a very complex history with their relationship with the police. And so obviously, yes, there is going to be a police presence at the parade for safety. But we have a lot of conversations, not just with police, but with a lot of other services in the city to talk about what safety looks like for our community in a way that, yes, keeps people safe, but also [ensures] the measures that we’re doing aren’t actively harming people.”
Capital Pride also uses private security and a local health and wellness group called Max Ottawa which is focused on harm reduction. Or as Breault described it: “An approach that’s less security guard coming up to you and being a bit scary [and more] somebody who’s wearing a bright pink shirt being like, ‘hey, how you doing?'”
“Unfortunately, being Pride, we have to have these conversations every year, right?” Breault added. “There are still people who don’t want Pride to happen and don’t want queer people to exist. And so unfortunately, we have to plan for safety every year.”
David Breault is the chair of Capital Pride’s board of directors. (CBC)New year, new route
Breault said he’s particularly excited about this year’s parade because it’s charting a different route through the downtown core.
Participants will take off from Lebreton Flats and move east toward Parliament, with a stop at the newly-unveiled Thunderhead monument. It recognizes the discrimination experienced by 2SLGBTQ+ people across the country.
“I think it’s really neat that the year it’s unveiled, we also get to march in front of it at the same time,” Breault said.
Over 150 groups are participating in this year’s parade, according to Breault. Mayor Sutcliffe, and two of his main election opponents Neil Saravanamuttoo and Jeff Leiper (but not Alex Lawson) plan to march, they told CBC this week.
The parade will end at Bank and Slater streets, “where people will hopefully come and then participate in the street festival and see all the people who are here,” Breault said.
“It’s going to be really, really great parade.”
WATCH | What to expect when it comes to road closures during Pride weekend:
What to expect when it comes to road closures during Pride weekend
Traffic will be affected in downtown Ottawa when the Pride parade and street festival kick off. The CBC’s Doug Hempstead explains which streets will be closed.