''Xtra Ottawa'' (formerly ''Capital Xtra'') was a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community newspaper published in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada. It was launched in 1993. Unlike its biweekly sister publications '' Xtra'' in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and '' Xtra Vancouver'' in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, ''Xtra Ottawa'' started as a monthly, and was later published 17 times a year, with a publication schedule of every three weeks. The Ottawa edition had a circulation of 20,000 copies which reached 36,000 readers. Printed on

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has ...

in tabloid format from its establishment in 1993, Pink Triangle Press announced on January 14, 2015, that the paper edition would be discontinued and the publication would continue in an exclusively

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

format."Gay newspaper Xtra to stop printing, go digital only"
''Toronto Star'', January 14, 2015. ''Xtra Ottawa'' also published a gay tourism map, ''Out in Ottawa'', every spring; the ''Ultimate Pride Guide'' in mid-July; and the ''Index'' gay business directory in December.

History

''Xtra Ottawa'' was launched by Pink Triangle Press as ''Capital Xtra'' in 1993, shortly after the organization learned that Ottawa's existing LGBT publication, '' GO Info'', had largely collapsed and was publishing irregularly with only a skeleton staff. Brandon Matheson, then a freelance journalist working in the

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

Press Gallery, was chosen to launch the project in conjunction with George Hartsgrove, then an administrator at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

.Dale Smith
"Looking back on issue #1 of ''Capital Xtra!''
''Capital Xtra!'', February 11, 2009. ''GO Info'' briefly tried to beef up its content in the face of its new competition, but folded in early 1994. In 2007,

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

attempted to pass restrictions on the paper's distribution in public facilities after a complaint was filed by Greg Evans. In March 2010, ''Capital Xtra'' was renamed ''Xtra Ottawa'' with the launch of a redesign of the Xtra papers in the Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver markets. The paper's final print edition was published on February 12, 2015.

Contributors

Early contributors to the magazine included Irshad Manji, Alex Munter, David Pepper, Andrew Griffin and Don McLean. Other contributors have included Glenn Crawford, Suki Lee, Blaine Marchand, Ariel Troster and Bradley Turcotte. Photographic contributors have included Pat Croteau, Eric Faure, Phillip Hannan, Shawn Scallen and Ben Welland.

Community involvement

''Xtra Ottawa'' put on a series of events every year for the Ottawa queer community: the LGX business & consumer expo each spring, the Transgress Festival as part of the Ottawa International Writer's Festival each October, and the ''Capital Xtra!'' Community Achievement Awards ceremony to acknowledge local volunteers and activists.

References

External links

''Xtra Ottawa''
{{LGBT in Canada 1993 establishments in Ontario 2015 disestablishments in Ontario LGBTQ culture in Ottawa LGBTQ-related newspapers published in Canada Newspapers established in 1993 Publications disestablished in 2015 Newspapers published in Ottawa Defunct newspapers published in Ontario Online newspapers with defunct print editions 1990s LGBTQ literature 2000s LGBTQ literature 2010s LGBTQ literature

History

Contributors

Community involvement

See also

References

External links