Poppy Crosswalk Gets Approval

Vernon council has given the go ahead to a poppy crosswalk.

It was requested by the Royal Canadian Legion to honour veterans, with the paint and artist fees donated.

“Amanda Shatzko is going to be the artist who does it. She did the one up at VSS,” says Mayor Akbal Mund.

Mund says it will be painted onto the crosswalk between the Greyhound Bus Depot and Cenotaph Park on 31st Avenue.

“You know what a poppy looks like, so you take that, put the little black centre in the middle and put the rest on the ground, and it looks like a poppy.”

Photo: Area of 31st Avenue where poppy crosswalk will be added (Kiss FM)

Mund says Councillor Catherine Lord was the only one opposed, feeling it was not inclusive of everyone.

Late last year, City council approved a rainbow crosswalk on 30th Avenue to support inclusivity.

Councillor Scott Anderson voted for the poppy theme, even though he was against the eight colour rainbow.

“I know some people will wonder how I can reconcile voting for a poppy crosswalk when I voted against a rainbow crosswalk, so I’m going to explain it.

My concerns with a rainbow crosswalk were: it is divisive; it emphasizes differences rather than inclusiveness; and municipal government has no business getting involved in the culture wars.

None of those conditions apply to this walkway,” said Anderson in a statement issued to media.

He says the real reason he supported the poppy is because it’s not to celebrate people because of who they are, but to honour our veterans because of the heroic thing they did.

“It is to honour their actions, not their identity,” adds Anderson.