Ottawa’s annual Pride parade was cancelled on Sunday after it was halted by a local pro-Palestinian advocacy group that blocked the road and demanded to negotiate with organizers.
The group Queers for Palestine — Ottawa (Q4P) halted the parade “with the permission” of the grand marshal, the organization said in a press release issued Sunday afternoon just as the parade was stopped.
“This is what a village looks like!” protesters chanted from Parliament Hill, referencing the “We are a village” theme that Capital Pride was using for 2025.
Q4P issued several demands for the organizers, Capital Pride, including that the group hold a “boycott, divestment and sanctions” hall and commit to an ongoing cultural and academic boycott of Israel.
They also demanded Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and other elected officials apologize for the 2024 boycott of Capital Pride and called on them to “stand with us and all oppressed peoples, including Palestinians.”
“We are in the parade today to affirm very clearly that our Pride is not for sale, and that 2SLGBTQIA+ communities will not accept sponsors and elected officials dictating what we stand for, how we celebrate ourselves, and how we claim our space,” the press release said.
Capital Pride announced the parade had been cancelled just before 3 p.m. on Instagram.
A spokesperson later confirmed the cancellation in an email to CBC, saying that Capital Pride had tried to make last-minute changes to the route but were unsuccessful.
They also said Capital Pride did not have time for an interview.
In 2024, Capital Pride issued a letter which condemned both “the acts of terrorism” committed on Oct. 7 and Israel’s “endless and brutal campaign in Gaza,” which it said had caused the deaths of “innocent Palestinians.”
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa called the statement “antisemitic” and said it would boycott the Pride parade in response.
Other groups and individuals withdrew their support and sponsorship from some Pride Month events, including Sutcliffe.
The parade went ahead regardless, but this year the statement was removed from Capital Pride’s website.
Capital Pride executive director Callie Metler told CBC the removal was part of a website update but that it still stood by its “principles and values.”
However, the organization has faced a campaign by Q4P to restore the statement and recommit to supporting Palestinians.
This year’s parade route takes people up Elgin Street, past Parliament Hill on Wellington Street. It’s planned to end on Kent Street, not far from the street festival on Bank Street.
Drivers should expect traffic delays downtown and check the road closures. For those traveling by public transit, OC Tranpso has a list of the detours on its website.
The usual length of the parade route was halved in 2024 because there were not enough police officers to cover the full route.
This year’s route is roughly the same length as the shortened route from last year, though it will travel along different roads.
Capital Pride told CBC in an email that they’d been “trying to get a route in front of Parliament Hill for a few years” and could not until this year, but did not say why the planned route was shorter than parades held before 2024.
Despite the parade’s cancellation, the festival on Bank Street is still slated to continue until 8 p.m., stretching from Gladstone Avenue to Slater Street.
