SUNDRE – Presented with a couple of proclamations, Town of Sundre's council recently discussed their value and whether to go beyond simply signing a declaration.
The matter went around the table on Feb. 10 during a regular meeting when council ultimately passed two proclamations – one for Wear Red Canada Day that was observed on Feb. 13 to raise awareness about women’s cardiovascular health and another for Purple Day on March 26 in recognition of Epilepsy Awareness Month.
Supportive of the motions in principle, Coun. Todd Dalke initiated the discussion by asking what value the municipality derives from including proclamations on council’s agenda.
“I would understand if we had a direct involvement,” said Dalke.
“But what’s the reason for all municipalities from all around Alberta, B.C. doing proclamations – what does it do, besides more social media?”
Mayor Richard Warnock said that beyond general advocacy and raising awareness, supporting proclamations demonstrates to ministers during meetings with different government departments that the municipality is involved and fights for its community.
“I think the value is political,” said Warnock.
Coun. Owen Petersen went further and said the multitude of organizations that conduct public awareness campaigns to support their cause of choice also benefit.
“I think that another value is to the actual organizations to have these letters of proclamation from municipalities (and) from mayors,” said Petersen.
“That means a lot for them to then go and do their promotions and fundraising as well. There’s got to be a benefit to these organizations as we lend our support, even if it’s only as a letter; it can seem like not a lot, but I think that’s a good tool in their back pocket.”
Coun. Jaime Marr suggested adding the item to the spring workshop’s agenda to further discuss “what it is council wants to do when we’re making these proclamations” whether that might mean simply voting to get a signature and moving on or pursuing something more actively.
“It just seems a little bit hands off at this point,” said Marr.
“We could maybe make it a little bit more personal,” she said, citing as an example finding and inviting someone in the community with personal experience about a condition such as epilepsy to share their story.
