soaring police costs force cancellation of ottawa st. patrick's day parade
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the 37th annual st. patrick's day parade made its way down bank street on saturday march 16, 2019. it was the last time the parade has run. covid and now rising police costs have forced organizers to cancel another edition.
ashley fraser
/
postmedia
soaring police costs have forced organizers of the st. patrick’s day parade to shelve plans for a 2025 event originally scheduled for downtown ottawa on march 15.
once a popular parade to paint the town green and to celebrate the city’s irish heritage, it has lost its place in the community for the past several years due to the covid-19 pandemic and the convoy protest that took over downtown ottawa streets in 2022.
the last time it was held was 2019.
but hopes of reviving the parade, which typically ran along laurier avenue, elgin street, gladstone avenue, metcalfe street and somerset street, have disappeared due to the estimated $35,000 cost.
most of that — $26,000 — comes from the price of paying 33 off-duty police officers overtime pay.
“there are so many more regulatory issues since covid,” said thomas o’neill, president of the irish society’s national capital chapter. “it’s sad. before, all those costs were covered by the city.”
new provincial rules kicked in after the disorder caused by the convoy protest, however.
while the city still covers the cost of police charged with monitoring planned protests, parades are a different story. the cost of security and policing is now the responsibility of the organizers.
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the city’s policy regarding barricading streets has also changed. in the past, barricades were removed immediately after the parade passed through an area. now, though, barricades remain in place for the duration of a parade due to the potential threat of terrorists using vehicles to storm through the streets.
that creates an extended downtown traffic logjam.
organizers are also responsible for paying the price of any additional signage needed to host the parade.
while o’neill has tried to find alternative solutions with the city and to work with sponsors to help foot the bill since taking over as president of the local irish society chapter last november, it was impossible to make up the shortfall. due to the delay since the last parade in 2019, many of the floats and other materials previously used during the event need to be upgraded.
“the city has other priorities for their time and money,” o’neill said. “the focus for the city has been on funding the lrt. there’s a real burden on the non-profits.”
o’neill says the st. patrick’s day parade is not alone in dealing with the new reality. he has also talked with other festival organizations that are dealing with similar issues.
while the parade is a no-go, irish week in ottawa is going on on.
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the festivities began march 7 with the city officially declaring it irish week in the capital. st. patrick’s day devotees sporting shamrock green colours were to celebrate the occasion by drinking non-alcoholic guinness on the rideau street bridge. there were to be “fish frys” at 30 pubs throughout the city on march 7 and the byward market’s heart and crown location will host a book reading and signing on march 9 featuring authors celebrating irish heritage.
if there’s any consolation in the cancellation of the 2025 parade, it’s that some of the money already raised could be possibly used in a grander 2026 event, which will serve as a bicentennial event.
in 1826, many irish labourers arrived in ottawa to take on the monumental task of building the rideau canal.
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