Council united on Pride Month festivities

Council votes unanimously to declare Pride month, fly flags, close streets for parade.

This week, council received a delegation from West Nipissing Pride regarding the upcoming festivities surrounding Pride Month.

As I reported last month, West Nipissing does not currently have any formal policy on flying activism-based flags but they are working on putting one in place.

So, the local non-profit organization formally requested that they be allowed to fly the current version of their flag this year. Along with flying the flag at Minnehaha Bay for the entirety of the month of June, the group also requested that they be allowed to install flags on municipal light posts downtown.

This year will also be the second time that a pride parade occurs downtown. The group asked that the city close off a few streets on June 8th as well as provide bylaw enforcement for the event.

Neighbouring municipalities have come under public pressure to support or oppose Pride flag raisings. In March, the East Ferris municipal council voted 3-2 against flying the Pride flag at city hall. The town of Powassan also faced controversy last summer when the public library decided to fly the Pride flag despite objections from many local residents and some councillors.

Although only one councillor provided any comments on this matter, West Nipissing council was united in its support of Pride and the group’s various causes.

When the formal resolution was read, all councillors voted in favour. Councillor Daniel Gagne thanked the organization for their leadership and commended them for “plowing the roads for everybody”.

The West Nip Voice is a regular newsletter covering issues in West Nipissing and the surrounding area. Please consider becoming a subscriber.