Capital Pride has issued a statement requesting "uniformed police officers should not participate in Capital Pride activities off-duty."
The statement from Capital Pride's board of directors says there'd been a consultation process and during that "of particular note were the strong feelings of many people who attended our consultation meetings – particularly LGBTQ2 youth – that uniformed police officers should not participate in Capital Pride activities off-duty."
Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau responded quickly, saying "we know there is a need for dialogue and to build stronger relationships in our city," and that they had already decided not to register an official float in this year's parade. Bordeleau says officers participating in the parade have been given the option to participate with other first responders, and "officers will also have the choice as to whether they wear their uniform or regular clothes. We are proud of our uniform, and it is part of our identity – it’s who we are and how we serve the community."
This comes after officers at Toronto's Pride parade were barred from participating in uniform after protests by Black Lives Matter at the 2016 event.
More to come.