A proposal by Peachland’s mayor to have a rainbow crosswalk installed at the cost of between $1,000 and $1,500 was voted down by Peachland council this week.
Instead, at their Tuesday meeting councillors voted to request a staff report explain the rationale behind installing a crosswalk before the issue could be considered again.
No one spoke against the crosswalk but some councillors raised concerns that Peachland was moving forward with the proposal simply to follow suit with what other municipalities have done.
There were concerns raised by district councillors that Peachland hadn’t yet done enough background work to explain why they were considering putting the crosswalk in place.
“Right now we are just putting in a rainbow because. People of the community I’ve talked to don’t know why and I don’t really know why either,” said Coun. Pete Coolio.
Watch (July 22, 2019): Coldstream rainbow crosswalk vandalized
Coolio was among those who argued more information is needed.
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“There are people that don’t understand the message, that do think we are jumping on the bandwagon,” Coolio said.
Coolio argued that additional information on the rationale behind the crosswalk would help “show people that are somehow against it that there is a reason to have it.”
“If we are going to do it I don’t think we should just paint it on the ground and say deal with it. I think we should paint it on the ground and say what the message is.”
Mayor Cindy Fortin argued the proposal for the crosswalk at 3rd Street and Beach Avenue was not simply about joining in on a popular trend.
“My reason to bring this forward had nothing to do with fitting into what other communities are doing, it had to do with the message of inclusivity and what it symbolizes,” said Fortin.
“We are kind of behind other communities in doing this.”
In the end, it was only Coun. Mike Kent who joined Fortin in supporting going ahead with the crosswalk without further study.
It is unclear when the issue might be reconsidered.
Rainbow crosswalks have been installed by many other municipalities to symbolically demonstrate their commitment to the inclusion of the LGBTQ2 community.
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