Ottawa’s mayor says he’s skipping this year’s Capital Pride after a falling-out between the organization and a prominent Jewish group in the run-up to this year’s festivities.
Last week, Capital Pride issued a statement offering four pro-Palestinian “commitments,” stating that it couldn’t withhold its solidarity without betraying “the promise of liberation that guides our work.”
It pledged to integrate a boycott list into its sponsorship reviews, recognize the “ongoing genocide” in Gaza in opening remarks, host a “queer Arab showcase” and call for a ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid.
Ottawa is a kind and welcoming city where everyone should feel included. I’m disappointed that despite conversations with the Jewish community, the board of Capital Pride has chosen to stand behind its original statement that caused significant hurt and distress for many members…
—@_MarkSutcliffe
The statement met with an immediate backlash and the Jewish Federation of Ottawa announced earlier this week that it was withdrawing from this year’s Pride parade.
It cited Capital Pride’s “refusal to adjust its stance,” which it said “marginalizes Jewish 2SLGBTQ+ individuals and the broader Jewish community.”
Other groups applauded Capital Pride’s statement and urged the group to take an even stronger stand.
Mayor says he’ll attend other events
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe previously said he hoped the two groups could meet and reconcile. On Thursday evening, however, he announced he won’t be participating in events organized by Capital Pride.
Sutcliffe said that while the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and Capital Pride did discuss the statement, he was disappointed when Capital Pride decided to stand by its original statement.
The mayor said he would attend other pride events as long as they’re not organized by Capital Pride.
“This decision by the board, days before the start of Pride, has unfortunately created an atmosphere where many now do not feel welcome to participate,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Pride has always been and should continue to be a celebration of diversity and inclusion where no one feels excluded for who they are. I encourage the board of Capital Pride to take steps to ensure no one feels excluded this year.”
Sutcliffe says funding depends on ‘very specific criteria’
At an event in Stittsville this morning, Sutcliffe said it was “not an easy decision.”
“But I feel like these events should be about diversity and inclusion, and right now there are members of our community feeling excluded,” he said.
Sutcliffe said that groups receiving city funding must meet some “very specific criteria.”
“I don’t know what the options are around that,” he said. “Capital Pride is an important organization in our community. If they meet the criteria for funding, they deserve to receive the funding that other organizations do.”
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he won’t be attending events organized by Capital Pride after the organization issued a pro-Palestine statement of solidarity, leading the Jewish Federation of Ottawa to withdraw from this year’s Pride Parade.
Capital Pride responds
Francesco MacAllister-Caruso, co-chair of Capital Pride’s board, said he was disappointed by Sutcliffe’s decision to skip the events and invited the mayor to reconsider.
“We just remind the mayor, and as well as the public, that our movement is based on equity, justice and inclusion for everyone,” he said. “And that involves us having to foster difficult but important conversations on these topics.”
He said Pride is a “protest movement at its core” aimed at liberation and human rights for all.
MacAllister-Caruso said his organization stands against all forms of hate, including antisemitism, and is deeply concerned by the recent spike in antisemitic acts in Canada.
Co-chair says concerns were heard
“We hope to be a partner with Jewish communities in Ottawa in order to combat this rising hate together,” he said.
MacAllister-Caruso said Capital Pride has spoken with Jewish community members and leaders and has heard their concerns.
“We’ve reiterated we are ready to put even more resources toward Jewish folk’s security,” he said.
But Rabbi Daniel Mikelberg has a different take on those conversations with Capital Pride.
Mikelberg, who is gay, is the rabbi at Temple Israel of Ottawa and works with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. He said the Jewish Federation of Ottawa met twice with Capital Pride to talk about Pride’s statement.
“Candidly, the second meeting left us in a worse place than we were initially, because as we met for a second time, they had now heard our concerns, they had recognized our sensitivities, they knew why this was so hurtful to our community,” he said.
Mikelberg said Capital Pride said its board had deliberated and concluded there was nothing they could do to address the needs of the Jewish community.
Mikelberg said it’s not too late for Capital Pride to amend its stance and apologize, because the parade isn’t happening until Sunday, Aug. 25.
“That gives us lots of time to potentially imagine a renewed pathway that addresses the needs of the Jewish community,” he said.
Others plan to march in Pride parade
At a Pride-related event in Gatineau, Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette said she’d let Sutcliffe make his own decisions but she’d be participating in her city’s own pride events.
Those events will be held by Outaouais-based Jeunesse Idem, which itself declined to comment on the situation.
Members of Jeunesse Idem will march in Capital Pride’s parade, however.
Lionel Lehouillier, spokesperson for Trans Outaouais, said he supports Capital Pride’s stance and believes queerness is often weaponized in debates like these.
“There are queer people in Gaza, there are queer people in Palestine and they’re also being hurt right now. They’re also important. It’s a complicated discussion but it’s also an important one.”
Some feel Capital Pride overstepped
Mark Berlin, who considers himself a member of both the LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities, said he supports the mayor’s stance.
“I thought this was courageous position for a politician,” he told Radio-Canada earlier today. “As the head of our city, he’s there to represent the entire community, an inclusive community.
“So what he perceived as an exclusionary act by Capital Pride put him in a position where he could not support them.”
Berlin said he feels Capital Pride’s statement was outside their “wheelhouse.”
Mark Berlin, a McGill professor and a member of both the LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities, says it was inappropriate for Capital Pride to issue a pro-Palestine statement.
“It’s not in their lane,” the McGill University academic said. “Their mandate doesn’t really get them to pronounce on geopolitical issues.
“My preference would have been, say nothing. If they simply said we are in anguish over the crisis going on in the Middle East, I would have been fine with that.”
The organization’s Pride Week will kick off officially with a flag raising in front of city hall on Monday, according to its website.