Arnprior’s Inclusivity and Diversity Committee (IDAC) has had its first impact upon Town Council’s actions.
At Monday’s municipal meeting, Committee Chairperson Councillor Lynn Grinstead introduced a discussion item, (with leave of the Mayor), on what to do with the raising and lowering of the Canadian flag at Town Hall.
Like they did at the Peace Tower in Ottawa, the municipality lowered its banner in an indefinite tribute to Indigenous lives lost in the nation’s Residential School system.
Unlike the Nation’s capital, IDAC would see the Canadian flag remain lowered from Remembrance Day forward until the Town determines a more fitting tribute.
IDAC Chair Grinstead said the Committee believes input should be sought from the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan as to the sensibilities involved.
Clerk Maureen Spratt advised the Mayor that protocol dictates he himself contact Chief Wendy Jocko of the Pikwakanagan First Nation, as they are each equivalent officers in their own communities.
It was Council’s consensus to restore the lowered flag as IDAC had suggested, and take the initiative to begin dialogue with the First Nation.
