Unlike other areas of the Cowichan Valley, the Municipality of North Cowichan doesn’t do proclamations.
North Cowichan hasn’t done proclamations since 1998 based on Human Rights Commission rulings and Mayor Al Siebring said there is a simple reason that council isn’t engaging in the act of proclamations.
“At the end of the day, we had quite a discussion, there are all kinds of scenarios that could come up, we have a number of people in this valley who work in Fort McMurray,” said Siebring.
“Oilsands Appreciation Week is a thing, there are communities in Alberta that declare that and if we get a request to declare that here, given council’s rather green direction, would we want to proclaim that? The obvious answer is probably not,” said Siebring.
Siebring said taking part in proclamations can get you into legal trouble.
“As soon as you say ‘probably not,’ to anybody you open yourself up to potential liability and a court challenge,” said Siebring. “The present policy works just fine, we don’t declare for anybody and that’s it.”
Ladysmith does proclamations and it’s Waste Reduction Week until Sunday.
