Capital Pride is blaming its last-minute decision to cut this year’s parade route in half on an unexpected shortage of available police officers to provide security for the annual event.
Callie Metler, executive director of Capital Pride, said organizers had asked for 33 officers to patrol the parade route on Saturday, the same number as in 2023.
Metler said despite carefully planning the event over the past six months with the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and the City of Ottawa, organizers recently learned only 16 officers will now be available, forcing them to shorten the route significantly. On Facebook, the group said it only learned of the situation on Tuesday.
This year’s parade will begin at its usual starting point at Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue W, then travel south along Elgin Street to Gladstone Avenue where participants will turn west toward Bank Street, where a street festival will take …