The Town of Newmarket will recognize religious and cultural heritage this calendar year through a series of declarations to be finalized on Jan. 20.
The town is preparing to declare April as Sikh Heritage Month, May as Jewish Heritage Month, October as Islamic Heritage Month, November as Hindu Heritage Month, and December as Christian Heritage Month.
Also, council will be reviewing the traumatic incident response protocol and designating heritage properties.
Here is what NewmarketToday will be following:
Religious declarations
The Town of Newmarket plans to join other communities in declaring a Christian Heritage Month, but only after declaring similarly for other religions.
The municipality received a request for a declaration of Christian Heritage Month in December, part of a nationwide campaign. But council delayed that to ensure balance toward other faiths in the community after concerns were raised by some residents.
“I worry this could be seen as a colonial assertion by the dominant culture. While other faiths may not ask for December due to its significance to Christianity and potential backlash, I question whether we should claim it for ourselves,” resident Melanie Duckett-Wilson wrote to council. “ The original intent of heritage recognition was to support smaller groups within a dominant culture; Christianity is the dominant religion.”
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said during a December council meeting that it would be less inclusive not to recognize anyone and that recognizing different religions could work to compromise.
Traumatic incident response protocol
York Region is implementing a new program in Newmarket meant to address traumatic incidents in the community.
Routes Connecting Communities will present to Newmarket council regarding the traumatic incident response protocol. The protocol, being implemented as part of the community safety and well-being plan, will have protocol ambassadors activated to support individuals, families and the community in response to incidents like violent crimes and school-related violence. These activations are meant to occur 12 to 72 hours after an incident, kicked off by York Regional Police.
The pilot program is being implemented in Newmarket, as well as Georgina, Markham and Richmond Hill/Vaughan.
Heritage designations
The Town of Newmarket will be finalizing the heritage designation of 48 properties.
The properties are spread across the community and come after months of effort to meet a shifted provincial deadline. The designation will provide the properties with more protection from alterations.
However, 11 people opposed these designations at various places throughout town, with several delegations and letters sent in.
The municipality is streaming the council meeting Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. You can view the meeting at newmarket.ca/meetings or attend in person at 395 Mulock Dr. You can also set up a deputation or send correspondence by messaging [email protected].
