No Rainbow Pride Crosswalk in Cold Lake After Majority of Public Reject Idea During Consultation

A file photo of a pride flag. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Cold Lake, Alberta, will not be creating a rainbow-coloured “pride” crosswalk in the city, after more than 50 percent of the public indicated they were against the idea following a public consultation process.

At a City Council Corporate Priorities Meeting on March 21, Cold Lake Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Nagoya presented council with the results of a public open house and open survey held in February. The public was asked to provide feedback on painting a pride crosswalk in support of LGBTQ, and potentially a “7 Feathers” indigenous symbol crosswalk.

The rainbow crosswalk was requested by Lakeland Safe Space Community to “help bring awareness of the Pride Group within the community,” according to a city notice announcing public consultation on Feb. 1.

The city said at the time it was “anticipating a request” for the indigenous crosswalk “in recognition of Truth and Reconciliation, as well as Canada’s Residential School Legacy.”

Over 50 percent of the public was not in favour of a pride crosswalk or a 7 Feathers crosswalk. The survey received 588 responses, with a total of 33 people (5.6 percent) identifying as living outside the community. Three out of the 33 non-community members said they were former residents.

“Something like this has to be given a lot of consideration at planning to ensure its success,” said Mayor Craig Copeland on Feb. 1, when announcing the consultation process. “Giving the public an opportunity to voice their thoughts and ideas on a rainbow crosswalk can only help ensure the best result.”

There is a rainbow crosswalk at 4 Wing Cold Lake, the busiest military fighter base of the Canadian Armed Forces in Canada, at the behest of the Defence Team Pride Advisory Organization and the Cold Lake Pride Community. It was installed in 2020. The forces’ base also has a 7 Feathers Crosswalk.

Council

The city council, with six out of seven members present, heard that public “responses that were clearly antagonistic to individuals, organizations, or identifiable groups were discarded.” The consultation process also locked people out if they were not in favour of the crosswalk, so they could not make suggestions for locations, according to Nagoya, who presented at the March 21 meeting.

Of those who responded, 44.3 percent were in favour of the indigenous crosswalk. Fewer than 39 percent of respondents were in favour of both the rainbow pride crosswalk and the 7 Feathers.

Copeland said at the meeting: “Any comments? You guys want to just push it off? Or do you want it in? More than 50 percent of residents are not in support, so it definitely went out to the community on this one.”

Councillor Adele Richardson spoke at the meeting and said, “You know, we really wanted engagement from the community.” She said that with over half not being in favour, “I definitely think that’s something we should take into account.”

Another councillor, Chris Vining, said he was supportive of proceeding with the pride crosswalk.

”It is a bit of a split, like I know some of the emails and such that we got,” he said. “I think there’s a good opportunity here for the community to show its inclusivity.”

Vining added it was a “good opportunity” to “create some education” around it, and to educate on “what these symbols mean.”

Bill Parker, another councillor at the meeting, said that with the numerous international visitors to Cold Lake, it would be “muddled” to have a crosswalk “not designated with the symbols of a crosswalk.”

After the brief discussion, a motion was made to defer the matter of pride crosswalks indefinitely, with four votes in favour from Mayor Copeland and Councillors Adele Richardson, Bill Parker, and Bob Mattice. Chris Vining and Ryan Bailey opposed the motion to defer. It was passed unanimously at a March 28 regular city council meeting.

“I cannot speak about the future but for now council has deferred the request as the community spoke on the request and a slight majority of the residents do not feel our City should have themed crosswalks,” Copeland told The Epoch Times.

This article has been updated with comments from Copeland.