A plan to return Ottawa gay pride festivities to Bank Street was canned late in July after a group representing businesses on the street pulled out of a partnership with the gay community to link a party to celebrate the street’s renovations and the opening of Pride Week.
The plan, which has been in the works since March of last year, would have included a street sale, the official re-opening of the street, and a queer street party.
However after changing the event’s date from Aug. 22 to Aug. 15, the Bank Street Business Improvement Area decided to withdraw from the event altogether.
In an e-mail, the BIA explained the date-change saying that between the super-ex exhibition, which falls on the same weekend and the late date in August street sale revenues would suffer.
Then on July 21, the BIA’s executive director Gerry LePage sent out an e-mail saying that the board of management had voted unanimously to postpone the event without offering an alternative date.
“It’s a shame that the BIA made this decision, we were excited to be partnering with them for this event,” said Brodie Fraser, vice-chair of Capital Pride.
He said the event would have been an excellent opportunity to create a space of inclusiveness for all members of the community and build bridges with other community groups.
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes, whose office was involved in planning the event, is away from her office and wasn’t available to comment.
Ottawa’s Pride parade ran down Bank Street between 1997 to 2004 and in the early 2000s finished with a gay street party on Bank Street.
Since then, the parade has run down Wellington Street turning South on Elgin Street finishing with a party on the front lawn of city hall.