Committee unanimously backs motion to stop issuing official proclamations

An undated image of London city hall. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

On Monday, the Corporate Services Committee (CSC) needed little time to reach consensus that city council should no longer accept applications for official proclamations.

Coun. Corrine Rahman put forward the motion that was quickly seconded by Coun. Susan Stevenson.

“I do think that there still remains many opportunities for us as members of council to continue to recognize dates of importance,” Rahman explained to the committee.

A report by city staff determined that at least nine other cities in Ontario do not issue proclamations, including Mississauga, Hamilton, and Kitchener-Waterloo.

Since early 2020, city staff have reviewed applications to ensure they adhere to community standards and don’t imply that the city is taking a position on controversial issues, religious matters, or international disputes.

Ultimately, it is up to council to approve an official proclamation.

“Each city is different in terms of how they want to make those recognitions,” Coun. Hadleigh McAlister told CTV News after the CSC meeting. “I think for London, we have a lot of different community organizations and different events going on and I think there's other opportunities for us to recognize them.”

Prior to suspending the application process earlier this year, city council had made 12 official proclamations in 2024, including U.N. Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21), World Thinking Day (Feb. 22), and Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month (March).

In 1995 then-Mayor Dianne Haskett refused to proclaim Pride Weekend, a decision that the Ontario Human Rights Commission later ruled was discrimination.

The city subsequently stopped making official proclamations for more than two decades.

In early 2020, then-Coun. Arielle Kayabaga and then-Deputy Mayor Jesse Helmer called for a new application process for council proclamations.

A pilot project eventually led to the current application and evaluation process.

A final decision will be made by city council on Sept. 24.

Official Proclamations in 2024:

• June 1984 Sikh Genocide – June 1 – 10, 2024
• Apraxia Awareness Day – May 14, 2024
• 32nd Falun Dafa Day Anniversary Celebrations-May 13, 2024
• London Run for Ovarian Cancer Week – May 6-12, 2024
• National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirited People – May 5, 2024
• World Press Freedom Day - May 3, 2024
• GBS and CIDP Awareness Month – May 2024
• Sikh Heritage Month – April 2024
• U.N. Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – March 21, 2024
• Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month – March 2024
• World Thinking Day – Feb. 22, 2024
• National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia – Jan. 29, 2024