Thousands of people descended on downtown Ottawa Sunday for the annual Pride parade, flooding the streets with rainbows and pro-Palestinian flags as the week-long festival celebrating 2SLGBTQ+ identity comes to a close.
It kicked off on Elgin Street, travelling south from Laurier Avenue W. to Gladstone Avenue, before turning on Gladstone and continuing until it hit Bank Street.
The planned route was about half the length it was last year.
The parade was supposed to take the same path as in 2023, but Capital Pride had to change the route with less than a week’s notice because the Ottawa Police Service did not provide enough officers to guard the entire length.
After the parade, those who weren’t sick of the sun could join the street festival, where local groups, businesses, and artists will be hosting stalls until 8 p.m.
The festival stretches along Bank from Gladstone to Slater Street, with water stations and toilets set up along the way.
Given there’s both a parade and a street festival, people should expect traffic delays downtown. The city has the complete details on its website.
It’s also worth noting — for anyone planning to come downtown from Ottawa’s east end — that Confederation Line trains won’t run Sunday between St-Laurent and Blair stations due to work on the line’s eastern extension.
Celebrations carry on amid controversy
Sunday’s events went ahead amid the fallout of Capital Pride’s pro-Palestinian statement earlier this month.
Capital Pride’s letter condemned both the terrorist act committed on Oct. 7 and Israel’s “endless and brutal campaign in Gaza,” which it said is causing the deaths of “innocent Palestinians.”
Some organizations and individuals have criticized Capital Pride’s statement for being “exclusionary” or questioned the safety of the event.
Several major institutions chose not to march in the parade or attend other events organized by Capital Pride.
For registered nurse and sexual health educator, Marita Smith, that decision came as a disappointment.
“We’re here to support all people, queer people in Palestine, straight people in Palestine, queer people all over the world, Jewish, Muslim. It doesn’t matter what identity you are,” Smith said Sunday.
“If we’re looking for liberation, it has to be liberation for everybody.”
Sabrina Kayed identified herself as a queer Palestinian and works as a teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board — one of several school boards that dropped out of the parade.
“It really, really is disappointing that my board decided to make a decision without consulting any staff, any students, any of the people who march in the parade every year — any of the people who really have skin in the game,” Kayed said.
“It shows that, unfortunately, people in our institutions are scared, and they’re scared of taking a stance when it comes to Palestine.”
Numerous groups have reaffirmed their support, including the Ottawa Greens, Centretown Community Health Centre, and 50 other local unions, businesses, and 2SLGBTQ+ groups.
