Mark your calendars Fort Frances – town Council officially passed a number of proclamations last week, which give official recognition to a variety of groups and events.
Rail Safety Week
September 18-24
The Town, at the request of CN Rail, has proclaimed September 18-24 as Rail Safety Week, which is recognized across Canada. According to Operation Lifesaver, a public/private partnership committed to educating the public on rail safety, 232 railway crossing and trespassing incidents occurred in Canada in 2022, resulting in 66 fatalities and 43 serious injuries – and all were avoidable. It is their hope that education – such as reminding the public that railway rights-of-way are private property, enhancing public awareness of the dangers associated with highway rail grade crossings, ensuring pedestrians and motorists are looking and listening while near railways, and obeying established traffic laws – will help to reduce the number incidents.
“Working safely is, by far, the most important thing we do each day at CN,” stated a letter to council requesting the recognition of Rail Safety Week. “Every employee deserves to go home safely. Every community needs to know they will not be put in harm’s way. At CN, we aspire to zero – zero fatalities, zero serious injuries, zero harm. We need your help. We firmly believe that all crossing and trespassing related incidents are preventable. By working together, we can help save lives.”
Mayor Andrew Hallikas spoke in favour of the resolution at the August council meeting. He said that in recent months, CN Rail has been reaching out to Fort Frances, and hopes to be a good corporate citizen; the company recently donated $15,000 towards the Fort Frances spray park.
According to Hallikas, officials at CN have expressed the importance of the local operation, due to the high volumes of rail traffic over the Ranier bridge and through the community.
“The importance of Fort Frances to CN, as indicated by CN officials, is much more important than many larger centres and consequently, rail safety is really important here. We have a lot of trains going through,” said Hallikas.
Franco-Ontarian Day
September 25
Ontario’s Francophone community has been recognized by the province annually on September 25 since 2010, and they requested a proclamation and flag-raising from council to mark the occasion in Fort Frances this year.
Mayor Andrew Hallikas spoke in favour of the request at last month’s council meeting.
“We have a lot of Francophones in our community, and I think that it’s well worthwhile to show support for them and their culture by raising their flag and issuing a proclamation,” he said.
The official proclamation reads, “I, Andrew Hallikas, by the virtue of the power vested in me as mayor of the Town of Fort Frances, so hereby proclaim September 25 of each year as Franco Ontarian Day and join the Francophone community in celebrating its exceptional contribution to Ontario’s growth and prosperity.”
In addition to council issuing the proclamation, members of the Franco-Ontario community and the public are invited to the Civic Centre on September 25 for the raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag.
According to Ontario.ca, the flag’s design is two vertical panels – one green with a white lily (fleur-de-lis), representing French communities across the world, and the other is a white panel with green trillium design, to represent French communities in Ontario. The green and white represent summer and winter – the two polarities of Ontario’s climate.
Childcare Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day
October 17
This date will mark the 23rd annual Appreciation Day, endorsed with a proclamation from council. It reads: “Be it resolved that October 17, 2023 be designated the 23rd annual Child Care Worker & Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day in recognition of the education, dedication and commitment of child care workers to children, their families and quality of life of the community.”
A request for a proclamation was brought forward by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Mayor Andrew Hallikas spoke in support of the proclamation at the August 14 council meeting.
“Childhood educators are so important to our community, and right now there’s a real shortage of them. We’re having difficulty getting them for the DSSAB daycares and other daycares,” he said. “So I think that it’s really worthwhile that this particular Council indicate that they appreciate the work that these very valued people do.”
According to CUPE’s June 26 letter to council requesting the proclamation, the theme for this year’s Appreciation Day is “Worth More.”
“This Appreciation Day will be important as we continue to navigate the implementation of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system and push for it to include decent work and pay for ECEs and child care workers. They deserve decent work and pay,” the letter stated. “To fulfil the promise of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system we need to ensure high quality spaces for every family who needs it. We have seen how affordable child care is life-changing for many families, but we need to make that possible for all. To make that vision a reality we need to expand access to child care by building new programs – but most importantly we must ensure that we retain, re-attract and recruit ECEs and child care workers with decent work and fulfilling careers to lead these vital, educational programs.”
