QUEENS COUNTY – Non-profit organizations in the Region of Queens have another means of communicating objectives and milestones with the public.
The Region of Queens council approved a motion at its regular council meeting Jan. 23 to amend Policy 8 – Proclamations, according to a news release issued by the region. The policy states that, “It shall be the policy of the Region of Queens Municipality not to endorse any proclamations.”
Instead, the amendment will see proclamations submitted from local, nonprofit community organizations or affiliations included in agenda packages for information purposes, allowing people to make their own decisions as to whether they support the cause, explains the release.
The topic has been something that the region has been looking at since August 2017, when it directed staff to examine options for staff to review. A discussion paper was presented in October 2017.
“This is something we have been talking about for a period of time,” said Coun. Jack Fancy, who represents District 5, during discussion on the topic during the Jan. 23 council meeting.
Heather Cook, community development coordinator for the Region of Queens, gave council a number of proclamation policies from across the province. The one Fancy said he thought worked well was the one from Yarmouth.
A desire to be fair to all community groups prompted council’s decision, said Mayor David Dagley.
“We have heard about how other municipalities handle proclamation requests, and there is a diversity of ways that the requests are handled from municipality to municipality,” said Dagley.
“We wanted to be fair, and it ensure that the public was aware of the organizations, their causes and activities. Council will continue to make no motions or actions on proclamations, but will now ensure that the public is aware of those requests that are submitted. It is important to have groups receive exposure for their organizations.”
Coun. Brian Fralic, who represents District 3, requested a list of all proclamations that come in, “how we dealt with them, and the ones that were forwarded to us.”
He suggested taking another look in six months to see what the enthusiasm is like for proclamations.
Jennifer Keating-Hubley, interim chief administrative officer, suggested a time frame of a year to revisit the policy.
The amended Policy 8 – Proclamations will be posted on the Region of Queens’ website. Any Queens County-based non-profit organizations or affiliations may submit proclamation requests to the corporate services department at the Region of Queens Municipality by mail (P.O. Box 1264, 249 White Point Rd., Liverpool, NS B0T 1K0), in person or by email at [email protected] to be included in an upcoming agenda package.
