Sunday’s Capital Pride parade will look different from previous incarnations as more groups, including City of Ottawa staff and some corporate sponsors of the festival, say they won’t be marching this year because of organizers’ recent remarks on the war in Gaza.
On Wednesday, the city said that while a float for elected officials will remain in the parade, city staff will not take part as an official contingent.
City manager Wendy Stephanson wrote in a memo to city councillors that some employees feel “excluded, unwelcome or unsafe” at this year’s parade. The city must avoid the perception it’s taking a political side, Stephanson added.
Loblaws and Giant Tiger, which both remained listed as corporate sponsors on Capital Pride’s website as of Wednesday morning, said they, too, are bowing out of the 2024 parade.
Loblaws cited “the recent tension” around the event and concern for the safety of participants, while Giant Tiger said decisions by Capital Pride officials “have raised concerns that the celebrations are not [in] keeping with the spirit of inclusivity and allyship we strive for.”
A divisive statement
Eleven days before this year’s festival began on Aug. 17, Capital Pride released a “solidarity with Palestine” statement addressing the “escalating levels of violence in Israel and Palestine” amid the ongoing war.
While condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli citizens, Capital Pride said it could not stay silent about “Israel’s endless and brutal [response] in Gaza.”
“Part of the growing Islamophobic sentiment we are witnessing is fuelled by the pink-washing of the war in Gaza and racist notions that all Palestinians are homophobic and transphobic,” the statement read. “By portraying itself as a protector of the rights of queer and trans people in the Middle East, Israel seeks to draw attention away from its abhorrent human rights abuses against Palestinians. We refuse to be complicit in this violence.”
The statement also committed Capital Pride to considering a boycott of businesses accused of profiting from Israel’s military campaign.
But Capital Pride’s statement has itself prompted a boycott. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Ottawa hospitals, school boards, the Liberal Party of Canada and other groups have said they won’t participate this year.
Critics have said the statement from organizers was an unwarranted excursion into politics that has made some feel unwanted, while defenders have pointed to Pride’s political past, pushed back against accusations that the statement was antisemitic, and said the declaration didn’t go far enough.
“[We are], and always will be, committed to combating all forms of hate, discrimination and intolerance, including antisemitism and Islamophobia,” Capital Pride said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. “All measures are being taken to ensure a safe Pride for all participants.”
Capital Pride did not answer questions about whether any sponsors have also pulled back funding.
‘Sad that businesses are pulling out’
Though not a festival sponsor, the Bank of Canada is also among the latest groups to withdraw from the parade.
The bank cited the controversy “along with the demonstrations and counter-protests at Pride events in other cities,” adding that it’s committed to participating in future Capital Prides “under safer circumstances.”
Ottawa Tourism said it won’t march either, but did provide money to the festival earlier this year to help pay for ASL interpreters and improvements to accessibility.
The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre also added its name to the list of local hospitals saying they won’t participate in the parade.
TD Bank, the festival’s top sponsor, has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
The Canadian Automobile Association, listed on Capital Pride’s website as a sponsor as recently as last Friday, told CBC it’s no longer involved but declined to explain why.
“It’s sad that businesses are pulling out,” said Sara Hepburn, a designer at Scrim’s Florist, which is on the parade route and has a Pride-theme display in its window. “I don’t want to get too political.”
“I hope it’s still going to be a really fun Pride,” store manager Sumayya Mayet said. “We’re still going to have our flags up and our windows up and we’re still going to celebrate the march that comes by.”
Bianca Allen said she still plans to host a #TGIF drag show listed on Capital Pride’s list of community events.
“Pride is political. Pride is a protest,” Allen said via email. “And although I will not share my views on Palestine-Israel, I will say that Pride is for everyone.”
$85K in city funding this year
The reaction to Capital Pride’s statement has inspired its own backlash.
The Ten Oaks Project, a charitable group working with 2SLGBTQ+ children, youth and families, is among a collection of groups organizing to “push back against the boycotting of Capital Pride.”
“The protesting of Pride by … powerful and influential figures and institutions in Ottawa puts the safety of 2SLGBTQ+ communities at risk,” Ten Oaks said in an Instagram post.
- CBC News is looking to speak with members Ottawa’s 2SLGBTQ+ communities about how the debate over Capital Pride has impacted their day-to-day lives. Reach out by email here.
The City of Ottawa is providing $85,000 in cultural funding to Capital Pride this year, up from $80,000 in 2023.
The city has reviewed its 2024 funding agreement with Capital Pride and confirmed the organization has “adhered to its provisions,” it told CBC in an emailed statement.
“If they meet the criteria for funding, they deserve to receive the same kind of funding that other organizations do,” Sutcliffe said last week, the day after announcing his personal decision as mayor to abstain from the parade.