For the second year in a row, Carleton University will not be taking part in the Capital Pride parade.
Last year, Carleton withdrew from the festivities after Capital Pride released a statement declaring their solidarity with Palestine and expressing concern about rising levels of Islamophobia in Canada.
That statement has since been quietly removed from Capital Pride’s website, but Carleton told the Charlatan it will not be participating in this year’s parade anyways.
“Although Carleton University will not be represented by an official float in this year’s Capital Pride parade due to timing and resources, faculty, staff and students interested in joining the event are welcome and encouraged to participate,” a Carleton spokesperson told the Charlatan in a statement.
The university is facing a major deficit, standing at $50.1 million at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. Carleton has previously pointed to Ontario’s domestic tuition freeze and the federal government’s cap on international students as factors driving its financial woes.
Several groups, including the University of Ottawa, the Liberal Party of Canada and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board pulled out of last year’s parade in response to the pro-Palestine statement.
But some groups are calling on Capital Pride to put the statement back up.
“We stand with Queers for Palestine Ottawa and our broader queer and trans community in demanding that Capital Pride reinstate its 2024 statement of solidarity with Palestine,” the Carleton 4 Palestine coalition said in a post on social media Thursday.
Last year, Carleton’s Transgender Media Lab said they were “ashamed” their home institution withdrew.
“We respect Capital Pride’s efforts to re-establish the focus of the event on building community and celebrating Ottawa’s 2SLGBTQQIA+ community,” the university said of this summer’s parade.
While Carleton will not officially march in the downtown parade, the university said it is preparing its annual campus Pride Festival, scheduled for Oct. 14 to 18.
The university added that both pride events are “significant” to community members and allies.
This story originally appeared in The Charlatan, Carleton University’s independent student newspaper. It has been republished here with permission.
