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.”
Capital Pride 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.
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 reconcile.
On Thursday evening, however, he announced on X that he won’t be participating in Capital Pride events this year.
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.
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.
“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 in his statement posted to X.
“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.”
Speaking Friday morning at an event in Stittsville, Sutcliffe said his decision about Capital Pride was not easy.
“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.
Capital Pride responds
Francesco MacAllister-Caruso, co-chair of Capital Pride’s board, said he was disappointed by Sutcliffe’s decision, inviting the mayor to reconsider.
“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.
The organization stands against all forms of hate, including antisemitism, and is deeply concerned by the recent spike in antisemitic acts in Canada, he added.
“We hope to be a partner with Jewish communities in Ottawa in order to combat this rising hate together.”
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.
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,” he said.
According to Mikelberg, Capital Pride said its board 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, with one more week until the Capital Pride Parade on Aug. 25.
The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO pull out of parade
CHEO, eastern Ontario’s children’s hospital, will not march in the Pride parade this year, according to a memo written by CEO Alex Munter to staff.
He said that Capital Pride’s committee had chosen to “repurpose the Pride Parade to protest Israel” and that members of the community “no longer feel safe or welcome to attend.” He said it would send “a message of exclusion” for CHEO to participate.
“On a personal note, I feel sad about this turn of events,” he wrote at the end of the memo. “I have participated in every Ottawa Pride parade for over 30 years and have been its grand marshal three times. My family and I will miss attending. Hopefully, next year, the event will once again unite our community and celebrate our common humanity.”
The Ottawa Hospital has also withdrawn from participating in the Pride parade, according to a statement sent to Radio-Canada.
“This decision did not come lightly, and we are heartbroken that we will not be there to celebrate,” the hospital’s statement said.
“We feel it would not be responsible for us to send staff, physicians, their family and friends, as well as patients to this event.”
At a Pride-related event in Gatineau, Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette said she’d be participating in her city’s own Pride events, which are organized by Outaouais-based Jeunesse Idem.
That group declined to comment on the situation in Ottawa but said members would march in Capital Pride’s parade.
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.”
Menasheh Speevak-Sladowski is a queer Jewish member of both Queers for Palestine Ottawa and Independent Jewish Voices.
Speevak-Sladowski said they don’t often see Sutcliffe speak on behalf of queer rights and they were disappointed to see the mayor using Capital Pride as a platform to push a “Zionist narrative.”
“[Sutcliffe] won’t be around to make anyone feel unsafe to show their solidarity with Palestine,” they said.
Speevak-Sladowski added Capital Pride’s statement showed “strong leadership” as the larger Pride movement “has always been political.”
Some feel Capital Pride overstepped
Mark Berlin, who considers himself a member of both the 2SLGBTQ+ and Jewish communities, said he supports the mayor’s stance.
“As the head of our city, he’s there to represent the entire community, an inclusive community,” Berlin told Radio-Canada. “What he perceived as an exclusionary act by Capital Pride put him in a position where he could not support them.”
Berlin, a McGill University academic said, added he feels Capital Pride’s statement was outside their “wheelhouse” in that “their mandate doesn’t really get them to pronounce on geopolitical issues.”
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.”
Capital Pride events are slated to begin on Saturday, with the raising of a rainbow-coloured flag scheduled for Monday.