Mayor Sutcliffe says he won’t apologize for boycotting last year's Capital Pride parade

Good morning! 

A question I commonly get asked as a queer person is why do we still need to celebrate Pride? What is the point of a pride parade when same-sex marriage has been legalized for quite some time, LGBTQ2S+ people — in Canada at least — have the same rights as everyone else, and being part of the community is more of the ‘norm.”

I can tell you that homophobia — either direct or indirect — still exists. I know people whose parents have disowned them for being gay. I know someone else who was beaten up outside an Ottawa gay bar just for being dressed more feminine. The list goes on.

Not only that, but many places are reversing LGBTQ2S+ rights. In the United States, the administration has recently ordered a pride sidewalk be painted over, which paid tribute to the 49 people fatally shot by a gunman at the Pulse LGBTQ nightclub in 2016.

What you might not know is Ottawa actually has a very storied past of fighting for LGBTQ2S+ rights. Today, we dive into that and update on the Pride Parade over the weekend.

Let’s get to it!

— Charlie Senack, Ottawa Lookout managing editor, [email protected], X: @Charlie_Senack

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WEATHER

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CITY

Mayor Sutcliffe says he won’t apologize for boycotting last year's Capital Pride parade

Read the story online here.

The sun was shining and rainbow flags were flying in downtown Ottawa as thousands lined the streets for the annual Capital Pride parade on Sunday. 

The floats and marchers started the route as planned, but were stopped outside Parliament Hill by a group called Queers for Palestine, who blocked the road in an attempt to negotiate with organizers. 

Queers for Palestine said they halted the parade with permission from the grand marshal Miss Patience, who invited the group to march alongside her. They demanded Capital Pride host a "boycott, divestment and sanctions" town hall, while committing to a cultural and academic boycott of Israel.

Last year, Capital Pride issued a statement recognizing "the ongoing genocide against Palestinians”, which received mixed opinions. Many groups, including the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Carleton University, and many city officials including Mark Sutcliffe, decided not to participate. 

But this year Pride organizers discreetly removed that messaging from their website, but said in media interviews their stance hasn’t changed. It reopened the debate with some demanding it be included again. 

Another demand Queers for Palestine had was for Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and other elected officials to apologize for boycotting last year. But the Mayor has refused and said no apology is warranted. 

 “I don’t think we want to have a situation where anybody can just block a parade – especially Capital Pride – put a bunch of demands on the table, and the parade doesn’t move forward unless people give in to those demands. I don’t think that’s acceptable,” said Sutcliffe. “I don’t think that’s a proper way to advocate or discuss the issues that are important to those people, I certainly was not in a position to say, yes, I’ll do whatever they ask.”

Sutcliffe also went on to say he boycotted last year as a personal matter, and noted that every year he participates in many pride events to show support to the LGBTQ2S+ community. 

The festival first put out a statement saying the parade would be delayed, but soon after, noted it would have to be cancelled. 

“Throughout the summer, we had several meetings with Q4P along with other community groups to discuss the issues that are important to them,” Capital Pride said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the group refused to have a meaningful discussion about how to move forward. After over an hour of attempting to resolve the stoppage, it became clear that Q4P was unwilling to engage in a good-faith conversation and was insistent on misrepresenting our discussions.

History of the Ottawa Pride movement 

Unlike most places, which celebrate Pride Month in June, Ottawa’s Capital Pride festivities are hosted in August because of historical events. 

It was a rainy day on Aug. 30, 1971, when about 80 men and women demonstrated in support of homosexual rights the front lawn of Parliament Hill – the first time a demonstration of this kind was held in Canada. Billed as Gay Day, it called for an end to the discrimination against homosexual individuals. 

It was a different world from the one we know today. Public servants could be fired for their sexual orientation and forced to use the “fruit machine” — a battery of psychological tests developed by a Carleton University professor to test if people were homosexual. 

In 1975, 34-year-old Warren Zufelt jumped to his death from the rooftop of his condo building at 20 Chesterton Dr. in Nepean. The public service worker was accused and charged with gross indecency in connection with a male prostitution ring involving juveniles. The ring uncovered March 4, 1975, also led to the arrest of 17 other men. Their names and addresses were posted in the local media.   

During the trial, branded “Ottawa’s sex scandal”, it was revealed that the 16-year-old prosecution’s chief witness was coached on what to say by police. The youth committed suicide during the trial.

While the gay bathhouse raids in Toronto and Montreal are more widely known, similar events took place in Ottawa, including the May 1976 raid of the Club Ottawa Bathhouse on Wellington Street West. Police charged two men with gross indecency and 22 others with being “found-ins”

The 1980s brought a lot of tragedy to the Ottawa gay community. It began with the AIDS epidemic, with Peter Evans, a bisexual man in his 30s, who was the Capital’s first diagnosed case. 

Then came violence. In 1989, at least 15 hate crimes were reported targeting the Ottawa Queer community. On Aug. 21, Alain Brosseau was dangled over the Alexandra Bridge connecting Ottawa to Gatineau and fell to his death in the water below. While Brosseau was believed to be straight, his killing was done on the assumption of his sexual orientation because of the shoes he wore. Also that night, Alain Fortin and Wilfred Gauthier were stabbed in their Orleans home by the same gang members. Both survived. 

But progress was on the horizon. Ottawa’s first-ever Pride parade occurred on June 18, 1989. Over the years, it picked up more support, even if not everyone was on board. 

Alex Munter, the first openly gay politician in the Ottawa area, came out in 1993. He said during his first Capital Pride parade two years later, there were “more gawkers than participants — some even there to see if they could spot someone they knew, others there to throw eggs.”

Munter faced a lot of love when he decided to live as his authentic self. But he received hate, too. Munter and his then-boyfriend were stopped on the street and faced homophobic remarks by a carload of young men. People also wrote in the Kanata Courier paper saying he wasn’t capable of being a councillor because of his sexual preference. 

Decades later, in 2019, Munter received the unexpected: an anonymous letter from someone who had defaced his municipal election signs all those years earlier. 

“I am truly sorry for doing this to you. We were dumb teenage boys,” the handwritten letter read. “You are an outstanding member to the community and are truly special.”

SPONSORED BY ENVIROCENTRE

Building a low-carbon future for Ottawa’s social housing

In Ottawa’s east end, more than 60 rent-geared-to-income homes at Carver Place are undergoing one of the most ambitious energy efficiency retrofits in Canadian social housing. Air source heat pumps, energy recovery ventilation systems, improved insulation, and air sealing will reduce energy use by 40% and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%, making homes more comfortable, more affordable, and more efficient.

Led by Multifaith Housing Initiative and EnviroCentre, with research support from Carleton University’s Centre for Advanced Building Envelope Research (CABER), this pilot is pairing practical upgrades with rigorous monitoring of air quality, energy use, and comfort. The results will guide future retrofits, showing how targeted measures can deliver lasting environmental and social benefits.

Read more in Carleton University’s feature on the project.

THE OTTAWA NUMBER

900

🚘 That’s how many tickets Ottawa bylaw officers have been issuing on average each day this year, according to a new report prepared for the city’s finance and corporate services committee. They’ve generated a $1 million surplus over the first half of the year for the city’s Emergency and Protective Services department. Read more. [CTV]

THE AGENDA

♻️ Students and staff at Ottawa Catholic School Board and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board schools are being asked to bring plastic, glass and metal recyclables home, after both boards failed to secure a vendor willing to collect recycling for the upcoming school year. Read more. [Ottawa Citizen]

🚱 Water levels are at a critical low, leading to the South Nation Conservation Authority issuing a Level 3 low water advisory — its most severe water advisory — for eastern Ottawa, Clarence-Rockland, The Nation, Russell and other eastern Ontario municipalities. Residents are being asked to reduce consumption and limit water use to only what is necessary. Read more. [CBC]

💻 The City of Ottawa is ending remote work for the 15 per cent of municipal public servants who have not yet returned to the office full-time. The announcement by the city manager, which requires all public servants to be back in the office full-time by January 1, comes just a week after Ontario Premier Doug Ford ended remote work for provincial public servants. Read more. [CBC]

🚗 While we’re on the topic of remote work, StatsCan says commute times across the National Capital Region have increased since the federal government ordered public servants back to the office. Also impacting commutes: despite the number of workers in the office increasing, transit ridership has not. Read more. [CTV]

🅿️ An Ottawa resident has been charged with assaulting a peace officer and uttering threats after attacking a bylaw officer who issued them a parking ticket. Unlike bylaw officers in other Canadian cities, Ottawa peace officers do not wear body cameras. Read more. [CBC]

☕ Equator Coffee Roasters, headquartered in Almonte, is expanding its partnership with Indigo-Chapters bookstore, taking over the space recently vacated by Starbucks in the bookseller’s City Park Drive store in Gloucester. This is the third time the two companies have partnered. Read more. [OBJ]

👮 Ottawa Police Service is asking for help locating a missing teenager. Thirteen-year-old Emily Desvereaux was last seen on Sunday afternoon. There are concerns about her well-being. Read more. [OPS]

HOME OF THE WEEK

This one stood out to me as we looked for a Home of the Week. And you’ll soon understand why.

First, it’s a home in the exciting community of Hintonburg. It also happens to be a single family home, of which there aren’t a ton listed in the area. You’ll get around 1,500 square feet of living space, four bedrooms, a nicely designed kitchen, and room for up to three cars (though with such great biking nearby, why bother). 

A place like this will set you back this much…

House of The Week is a home selected by the Lookout team and is not a paid advertisement. All ads are labeled as such. If you’re a realtor who wishes to feature your home in our newsletter, please contact our sales team.

EDUCATION

Ontario education minister won’t rule out removing public board trustees indefinitely

When Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) students return to the classroom in September, it’s unlikely they will notice any major changes. But behind the scenes, decision-making will look a whole lot different after a supervisor was appointed and trustees stripped — at least for now — of their duties. 

But what if the Ontario government decided to get rid of school trustees altogether? During the recent Association of Municipalities Ontario conference held in Ottawa, Education Minister Paul Calandra said that it could be a possibility. 

OTTAWA ARTS GUIDE

Performance

Ottawa’s Little Theatre has a new show, Five Alarm, all about a woman, her rival, a chilli recipe and her father. On until Sept. 6.

The popular Latin Sparks Festival is back at LeBreton Flats on Sept. 6. It’s Canada’s largest Latin dance party, so if salsa and other Latin music and dance are your thing, you’ll want to attend. 

Shenkman Arts Centre is opening up its venue to the public for free performances on Sept. 7, with performances like K-pop dance, live painting, a circus show, calligraphy and more. 

Ever wondered how to create a stage performance? In a behind-the-scenes conversation about getting art made, join Giller Prize-winning author André Alexis and playwright Marie Farsi for a conversation about how they got their show made. On Sept. 19.

Art

The City Hall Art Gallery is showcasing the work of Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman, exploring diasporic communities and the experiences of living away from home. She uses a variety of materials, including oil, fleece, latex, fabrics, pillows and more.

Mark down Sept. 27 at 2 pm with the first Artwalk experience of the year at the National Gallery of Canada’s outdoor amphitheatre, for conversation about art, a walk around the area, visits to private galleries and a reception. 

Movies

Bytowne can’t stop showcasing the classics and this week is no different. If Michael Mann’s Heat or James Cameron’s Terminator 2 aren’t your thing, there are also some lesser-known ones like the dark comedy Splitsville and I Saw the TV Glow. 

And over at Mayfair, there are a few classics to check out as well, including a 4k restoration of 2016’s Shin Godzilla and the camp classic Showgirls by Paul Verhoeven. 

Music 

Mary Shelley rocks Dominion Tavern on 27 August. This Brooklyn post-punk trio tears through genre boundaries with danceable chaos and lyrics about gentrified New York and drunken warehouse parties. Tickets $15.

Equator headlines House of Targ on 28 August. Catch their guitar-driven alt-rock alongside support from The Lookout, Double Talker, and BirdDog. Tickets $15.

Massey brings dreamy soundscapes to Club SAW on 28 August. He describes his ethereal and expansive sound as "Vapourwave Sonic Youth".  Tickets $12.75.

aniqa dear transforms LIVE! on Elgin on 30 August. Experience experimental electronic art-pop rooted in Pakistani/Indian influences, queerness and migration, dancing between belonging and isolation. Tickets $15.

Bob Wiseman and Mike Boguski come to Red Bird on 31 August. Blue Rodeo's founding and current keyboardists take turns dismantling solo piano conventions. Tickets $33.

Listings for music shows are provided by OttawaGigs.ca, the best place to discover live music in Ottawa. Check out Ottawagigs.ca for full listings across the city.

Want to see your event here? Submit them to our event calendar. 

SURVEY

Is council decision on Lansdowne 2.0 worth covering more?

Council will decide in the fall whether to spend $419 million on changes to the Lansdowne area.

This is one of the most consequential issues facing City Hall this year. We’ve got many stories planned for this year, but are considering devoting more resources to cover this important issue.

As a reader-funded publication, your opinion matters in shaping our stories. So far, over 1,200 Lookout readers have responded to our survey. Help shape our coverage of this issue, and determine if we devote more resources to this issue, by taking our short survey today.

OTTAWA GUESSER

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Ottawa Business Journal has released its list of the city’s 20 best places to work. [OBJ]

• The Musica Viva Singers community choir is holding an open rehearsal on September 8. Everyone is welcome. [Musica Viva]

• Here’s a helpful list compiled by Ottawa Redditors of where to get bedlinens now that the Bay is closed. [Reddit]

• The passing of Ottawa businessman and philanthropist Harvey Glatt has left a huge hole in the city’s cultural community. [Apt613]

• Get ready for BikeNight at Confederation Park on September 13.

• Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

ON THIS DAY

August 27, 1963: Mayor Charlotte Whitton said the city would not be spending $450,000 to finance a new stadium for the Ottawa Rough Riders football team. It was suggested at the time that a new municipal sports stadium be part of the Brewar Park redevelopment.

August 27, 1971: “Bicycling reached epic popularity levels in Ottawa this summer,” reported the Ottawa Citizen, but that also resulted in record-breaking theft. A total of 3,322 bicycles had been stolen, resulting in Ottawa Police having to stash its overflow of bikes on the rooftop of its Water Street station. Those that were not picked up would be auctioned off in a few weeks. 

Vanier, Gloucester, and Nepean Townships had the highest rates of bike thefts. 

• “Many stolen vehicles are apparently stripped down and rebuilt using other parts from stolen bikes,” reported the Citizen. “This practice makes the police task of identification almost impossible.”