While there won’t be a poppy crosswalk in Cobourg, a councillor is seeking new ideas on how to honour local veterans.
At Monday’s council meeting, an amended motion by Coun. Adam Bureau on working with the Royal Canadian Legion to generate new ideas for Remembrance Day to honour veterans was carried.
Bureau’s notice of motion initially proposed a third commemorative crosswalk in town. There are also Pride and Indigenous crosswalks. Bureau believes the cost to create the new crosswalk would have been approximately $8,000. The motion was revamped once Bureau learned of restrictions to use the poppy, as the Legion holds the rights. He said a motion would’ve needed to pass at council before he approached the Royal Canadian Legion.
Earlier in the evening, Sandra O’Neill-Brown made a delegation opposing the crosswalk, arguing the paint doesn’t last and in the case of the Seven Feathers crosswalk, only a mess of orange paint remains. She had concerns a new crosswalk in November would deteriorate faster with exposure to rain, ice, snow and road-clearing as well as having a poppy on the road for pedestrians to walk and motorists to drive over.
Coun. Brian Darling put forth the idea of placing banners on lamp standards in the downtown area during the month of November as a way to honour Cobourg veterans.
In an interview Tuesday, Bureau said there was discussion last term about council working with the Legion to find a way to represent the veterans of Cobourg year-round rather than just on Remembrance Day.
“It’s such a meaningful impact to our community and the way live so I wanted to do something and start the conversation and the best way I thought was what better way to get the community talking than a poppy crosswalk,” he said.
Bureau thought it would be a great addition to the other crosswalks in town.
“I think it’s a great visible beautification for our downtown to show and represent a community coming together,” he said.
