Members and allies of the LGBTQ community in Petawawa, Ont., are frustrated and seeking change after their mayor denied their request to fly the Pride Flag at City Hall, citing a city policy they consider it “obsolete”.
“We don’t have Pride events in Petawawa. There is nothing. Nothing at all. There’s no marching, there’s no picnicking, no flags flying,” said Jennifer Neville, a resident who is asking the city to reconsider.
“Our city is doing nothing.
This is not the first time the city has refused to raise the pride flag at City Hall, despite repeated requests from residents.
City council failed to pass a motion last June to reconsider a decades-old resolution that bars the municipality from flying the pride flag, or any other flag that shows support for a cause, on municipal buildings. Resolution 11, passed in 1998, states that the council may not declare any “public proclamation” unless it “relates to matters which are solely and wholly within the immediate mandate of the council”.
Mayor Bob Sweet and Councilors Tom Mohns and Murray Rutz voted against the motion, defeating it. The motion needed the support of five of the seven council members to pass.
With Pride Month approaching in June, Neville wrote a letter in May to City Council on behalf of the city’s LGBTQ community, asking to meet with the mayor and councilors who voted against the policy change l year, and to make an official request to fly the flag this year.
In a letter dated May 31, Sweet reminded Neville of the city’s policy which “respectfully declines to support any statement” such as displaying the pride flag.
“Residents must respect that the council has policies… which must be adhered to,” he wrote.
It would be so nice if the city I’ve lived in all my life was flying my flag.– Seth Crosby, high school student
Sweet told Neville that since the motion was defeated, it would not be reconsidered for 12 months due to a settlement – after June 21, 2022.
“At no time did council members vote against raising the pride flag,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, many have misinterpreted this and made it a discussion about the pride flag, when it’s more of a discussion about whether the board should change or repeal its policy.”
Meeting with the mayor unsuccessful, say the inhabitants
Neville, an ally of the LGBTQ community, explained why it’s important for the city to raise the flag this month.
“It’s a beacon of hope, and it’s a sign of acceptance and inclusion that [the] The Pride community can relate and feel safe and accepted.”
She met with the mayor a few weeks ago, but received the same response: Resolution 11 – something she calls an “obsolete” policy.
“It’s frustrating,” she said.
Seth Crosby, a high school student from Petawawa, joined Neville at this meeting.
“It was frustrating to have the same thing repeated over and over again,” Crosby said. “You feel a bit stuck.”
Crosby says the policy should be changed to include the community it serves.
“At some point, some rules have to change,” they said. “It would be so nice to have the city I’ve lived in all my life fly my flag and my colors. That would be really cool.”
WATCH | Student says his opinion is often dismissed
Petawawa, Ont., currently adheres to a decades-old resolution that prevents the municipality from flying a flag on municipal buildings that shows support for a cause. High school student Seth Crosby says it’s time for that policy to change.
Mayor says city must be ‘neutral’ at all times
In an interview with CBC, Sweet said Resolution 11 has served this community “very, very well,” keeping the city “neutral” by not flying any flags for any reason.
He pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the abortion protections set forth in Roe v. Wade, as an example he shared with Neville.
“The recent mess that’s going to happen in the United States with Wade and Roe. I said which of these should I proclaim? Should I proclaim the right to choose or should I proclaim the right to life? C It’s between the hammer and the hard place over there,” he said.
“If we proclaim one, we mobilize 54% of the population”.
WATCH | A resident says he was closed by the mayor
Jennifer Neville, a resident of Petawawa, Ont., says she pushed the city to reconsider its decision not to fly the Pride Flag during Pride Month in June.
He said he couldn’t understand why residents were upset that the council was not raising the flag at City Hall.
“I asked [Neville] this. I said, ‘What can’t you do in this town that you could do if we had a Pride flag flying?'” Sweet said.
“Could you organize a gay pride golf tournament? Could you organize a gay pride ball tournament? Yes Yes Yes. What can’t you do that you could do by flying a flag? »
He said the LGBTQ community has approached the council to fly the flag every year for the past four years.
Sweet said he did not plan to bring the motion to debate the Resolution 11 amendment himself and would have to be another board member.
He repeatedly said “I don’t know” when asked if the board would debate the motion again this year.
Its next meeting is scheduled for July 4, a few days after the end of Pride month.
“On the Wrong Side of History”
Becky Conroy says she and other members of Petawawa’s LGBTQ community are discouraged.
“I’m shocked because it seems like in 2022 this shouldn’t even be a discussion,” she said. “As a queer woman, as a member of the LGBTQ2S+ community, this is insulting and disheartening.”
Conroy, who works at a nearby school in Pembroke, Ont., says the contrast between the two communities is stark.
Pembroke made a proclamation for Pride Month and flew the flag on its municipal building. Conroy said she and many Petawawa residents travel there during Pride Month to participate in its various events, which the city supports and partners with.
“I feel like in politics or anything we do, we should be looking at things through a fairness lens,” Conroy said. “We are on the wrong side of history here.”
Municipal List of Dismissed Cases
In an email to Neville, the city sent a list of 33 “requests for proclamation” it has denied since 2007 because of the same policy.
It includes: a day of action against anti-Asian racism; military family appreciation day; poutine feast week; children’s mental health week; eating disorder awareness week; prostate cancer awareness month; Franco-Ontarian Day; and European Heritage Week.
“I don’t know what the big argument is. [They’re] free to do just about anything you want, but we won’t be proclaiming any particular event,” Sweet said.
“I’m not sure I understand why there’s such pushback or backsliding on this. I can’t understand what they think they can’t do in our community. I really don’t. .”
Sweet said he asked Neville how the city could show support for the LGBTQ community without flying a flag.
Neville plans to bring a list of suggestions to the July 4 council meeting.
“I hope these proposals that I present will be accepted…so that for Pride month next year in 2024, we can have some kind of event or some kind of recognition in our community.”
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