WELLINGTON NORTH – A request to paint rainbow crosswalks in Wellington North in support of the local LGBTQ+ community appeared well received by council even if there’s some uncertainty on when or where to install them.
In a delegation to council Rosie Krul, who spoke on behalf of interested community members, suggested new crosswalks proposed for Arthur and Mount Forest are given more funding to include an inclusive crosswalk to show support for the LGBTQ+ community in Wellington North.
Rainbow crosswalks, or inclusive crosswalks, are walkways painted in the colours of the Pride flag or transgender flag and often include colours representing other communities such as people of colour.
Krul, a local resident who is also involved with Minto’s Pride committee, told council a symbol of Pride can be more meaningful in a small town rather than a larger city because there’s less resources, support and visibility of that community.
“Despite that, there’s a fairly large population that identifies under that umbrella in Arthur and Mount Forest,” Krul said.
“This colouring of the crosswalk to be an inclusive rainbow would signify not only to the queer community that they are welcomed and belong in our towns but also signify to the rest of Wellington North that discrimination and homophobia won’t be tolerated in our community.”
The group noted it cost the neighbouring Town of Minto $7,000 to add the inclusive colours to a crosswalk in Harriston which ended up being the first of its kind in Wellington County. Krul also pointed out other nearby communities like Collingwood and Orangeville also have these sorts of crosswalks.
“I know that these costs seem extreme for what is essentially a bit of colourful paint but I think the impact they would have is fairly significant,” Krul said.
Coun. Sherry Burke cautioned the crosswalks the township is doing might not be the right location for the LGBTQ+ colours because they would need approval from the Ministry of Transportation.
“Those crosswalks are going across provincial highways where some of these other ones that have been installed in other communities got across either county roads or streets,” Burke said. “But I think it’s a really interesting concept, I’d like to sort of see what we can do with it.”
Coun. Lisa Hern said she believed the BIAs should be involved in the conversation, as she was aware this has come up at an Arthur BIA meeting recently.
Coun. Penny Renken said she understood the purpose of the crosswalks but was concerned this would leave other communities that exist in town unrepresented and wasn’t sure it was fair to spend this additional money specifically for the LGBTQ+ community.
Krul said she encouraged council to seek ways to represent different groups in the community but that shouldn't hold something like this back.
Mayor Andy Lennox said they would be a few steps away from implementing anything like this.
“I think absolutely, I’m very open to finding a way to incorporate this … it may take us a little bit of time,” Lennox said, asking the group who came out to stay tuned and the town would be in touch in the future.
