The Town of Barrhead council has officially enacted the Barrhead Neutral Space Bylaw, giving it second and third reading during a special Dec. 16 council meeting.
According to Alberta's Municipality Government Act (MGA), council had 30 days to pass the bylaw without substantive change following the Dec. 2 plebiscite, in which the majority of eligible voters voted to enact it.
Chief administrative officer Collin Steffes noted that administration corrected two minor changes before council approved the bylaw: correcting a spelling error and deleting a blank page at the end of the document.
The official result of the vote was 653, or 57 per cent in favour.
Some 492 voters, or 43 per cent, opposed the proposed bylaw. Approximately one-third of eligible voters, based on 2021 census data, cast their vote.
The bylaw prohibits "decorative crosswalks" on town roadways, restricting them to the conventional white stripes bordered by two white lines. The bylaw also limits the flags allowed to be flown at municipal facilities and flag poles to national flags and the Alberta provincial and Town of Barrhead flags.
The bylaw would also prohibit decorations on town crosswalks or the display of flags supporting political, social, or religious movements or commercial entities. It also does not allow for the grandfathering of existing decorative crosswalks or prohibited flags.
The drafting of the bylaw and the subsequent plebiscite became necessary after Barrhead Neutrality presented the municipality with a petition to pressure councillors to enact the previously stated bylaw or send it to a referendum or plebiscite.
To be a valid petition under the Municipal Government Act (MGA), 10 per cent of the town's population needed to sign the petition. Alberta Municipal Affairs listed the town's 2023 population at 4,320, meaning the petition needed 432 signatures.
The petition had 851 signatures, 712 of which were considered valid. Councillors gave first reading to the bylaw at a special Sept. 30th council meeting.
Now that the bylaw is in place, town staff will remove the County of Barrhead and Treaty 6 flags at the Agrena, along with the Canadian Red Ensign and Legion flags at the cenotaph and the County of Barrhead Flag at the Barrhead Regional Fire Services Fire Hall.
Administration did not give a timeline for the removal of the flags.
However, the next day, on the municipality's website, it stated that due to sensitivities around the removal of the Treaty 6, Legion, and Canadian Red Ensign, the town would consult with representatives from appropriate organizations about the best way and time to lower them.
The website also states that once weather conditions permit, the paint on the Rainbow and Disability Pride crosswalks on Main Street and adjacent to the town office across Kowalski Drive will be removed.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
