Westlock Neutrality

11/16/2024

Our Barrhead neighbor's have fought hard to petition their town council for the right to a democratic vote for their own neutrality bylaw.

The first advanced vote day is coming soon (November 20th). If you're a resident of Barrhead, exercise your democratic right and vote YES!!

On November 20, 2024 you will have the first opportunity to vote YES to a Neutral Space Bylaw!

Voting times are from 4pm-8pm at Town of Barrhead Council Chambers

Share and talk with your friends and neighbours, we need everyone to come out and vote!

09/04/2024

Congratulations to the Barrhead Neutrality team! Through their hard work, Barrhead citizens' voices have been heard via a petition that their town council officially validated yesterday (Sep 3)!

In accordance with the Alberta MGA, the town has 30 days to draft a neutrality bylaw and present it back to them for first reading.

07/28/2024

Amazing work, Barrhead!

✔️Back in March some concerned Barrhead Town residents began looking for a way to help our town with a Neutrality Bylaw.
✔️In May we organized and put our group together.
✔️Beginning of June we began to petition the town, asking residents if they were in favour of a neutrality bylaw.
✔️Today, July 26 we handed in the petiton to the town office to be given to the CAO for verification.
✔️Within 45 days we should hear back on if the Councillors have decided to hold a plebiscite or pass a bylaw as stated on the petition.

Thank you town of Barrhead, we were able to hand in a petition with double the amount of required signatures. Almost 20% of our total town population signed!
Over the course of June and July we collected 856 signatures from residents in favour of a Neutrality Bylaw.

💥Stay tuned for news of a bylaw or a plebiscite💥

barrheadneutrality.com

06/27/2024

1 year after Westlock Town Council dismissed citizen concerns and violated public neutrality…

11 months since a grassroots movement began petitioning to reverse their actions…

7 months after a successful petition forced Council to draft a bylaw they didn’t want to make…

5 months since they did everything in their power to influence the vote of a plebiscite…

4 months after they failed and a successful townwide “YES” vote passed…

3 months since Council was forced to enact a neutrality bylaw, undoing their damage…

… It finally happened.

The crosswalk between the Town Office and the Westlock Legion has been repainted to the standard, white-striped pattern! No one group or ideology is being elevated over another. The floodgates have been rebuilt and Westlock has achieved a milestone heard across the nation that they can be proud of.

This is a culmination of a year’s work for many citizens standing against an antagonistic Town Council. During and after the plebiscite it became clear that Westlock was not alone. Citizens from other communities shared with us their experiences with their own elected officials, seeking advice. Today, we’re happy to inform that the embers from Westlock’s victory have begun sparking fires in other communities. Westlock has shown it’s possible, and now others (and not just Barrhead) are taking the torch and carrying it even further!

The Westlock Neutrality Team wants to again thank everyone who signed the petition. Every volunteer that helped garner them. And every citizen who helped counter the misinformation of Town Council and others that opposed the petition.

Together we accomplished something amazing. Thank you!

https://westlockneutrality.com/mission-accomplished/

06/05/2024

Announcing the Barrhead Neutrality Team! A group of residents working to create a neutrality bylaw ensuring crosswalks and flags on public property remain neutral.

The petition has officially begun! Organizers will be going door-to-door asking for your help to sign the petition and garner the necessary signatures to bring before Barrhead Council. Check out their website at https://www.barrheadneutrality.com for more information and to request being contacted to sign!

Please LIKE & SHARE to get the word out!!!

02/23/2024

Lylith Messier is a part of the Pride community, and she and I are co-hosting a Block Party for the town TODAY (Friday, February 23) from 4:00pm – 6:00pm at the Capri Mall parking lot. We're calling it the "I Don't Agree with You But I Love You" Block Party. At the time of the invite, we didn't know which way the vote would go. We did that deliberately as we wanted both sides to feel welcome.

Now that the plebiscite is done, we hope our common care for each other as individuals will win out over disappointment from the results.

It's been a rough 8 months! Westlock could use some music in the sunshine!

02/23/2024

An announcement from Stephanie Bakker…

Thank you, Westlock! You came out to vote on February 22 and sent a clear message to our Mayor and Council with a successful YES result! Thank you to every citizen of Westlock that came out and exercised their democratic right to vote. And thank you to everyone who signed the petition last year that made this vote possible. Without it, Town Council would never have given its citizens the opportunity to do so.

Unkind words have been fired from both sides online. But we've heard from some very caring people on both sides, as well. I know the results will be disappointing to some.

To our friends and family in the Pride community… Despite what the Mayor and Council have been trying so hard to convince you of, those who voted for the bylaw were not voting against YOU. You are loved. Those who voted for neutrality did so with a genuine desire to keep our community whole and inclusive.

It's been an educational experience being just a grassroots movement going up against the government. With their actions over the past few weeks, the Mayor and Council have conveniently hammered home our point that the government should remain neutral. Even if you don't care about neutrality, their behaviour has been a wake-up call to people.

Lylith Messier is a part of the Pride community, and she and I are co-hosting a Block Party for the town TODAY (Friday, February 23) from 4:00pm – 6:00pm at the Capri Mall parking lot. We're calling it the "I Don't Agree with You But I Love You" Block Party. At the time of the invite, we didn't know which way the vote would go. We did that deliberately as we wanted both sides to feel welcome.

Now that the plebiscite is done, we hope our common care for each other as individuals will win out over disappointment from the results.

It's been a rough 8 months! Westlock could use some music in the sunshine!

Stephanie Bakker
Westlock Neutrality Team Lead
February 23, 2024

https://westlockneutrality.com/

02/17/2024

TRUTH: WESTLOCK TOWN COUNCIL'S LATEST MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN

“In for a penny, in for a pound” appears to be Westlock Town Council’s new motto. They continue to use municipal resources to push how they want you to vote in the upcoming plebiscite. The severity of their bias is astonishing; they’re not even trying to hide the ball. Perhaps they’re overconfident and believe there’ll be no consequences (so long as the vote goes their way). Apparently, to them the ends justify the means.

However, town residents aren’t happy with them and don’t appear to be falling for their fearmongering campaign. So, in his latest videos, Mayor Jon Kramer has switched to a new tactic: smearing those that support the bylaw as opponents to inclusivity, in all its forms. They’re against the Recreation Assistance Program trying to help modest-income families. They’re against upgrading playground equipment for children with mobility challenges. They’re against Meal Prep for Seniors and Filipino Story Time. Evidently, everything is inclusive, and by supporting the bylaw you’re against everything.

How contemptuous of Town Council. Hiding behind members of the Pride community to shield themselves from citizens’ concerns wasn’t enough. Now, they’re putting financial situations and physical disabilities into the same category as ideologies. It’s reminiscent of a certain meeting back in June 12/23 where Councilors Jamaly and Wold likened handicap parking symbols to rainbow crosswalks. The problem with all these claims is that physical disabilities aren’t the same thing as ideologies. Recreation programs and ramps don’t promote one philosophy over another. Meal Prep for Seniors and handicap symbols don’t also represent some controversial subject matter.

If Town Council were allowed to continue using their all-encompassing definition of inclusivity, if we allowed ourselves to be labeled by them in this manner, what’s to stop them from using it for anything else they put forward in the future? Do you oppose the rezoning of land near your property? A change in police priorities? The establishment of a safe-injection site? You’re now “anti-inclusive”, and Town Council has freed itself from the obligation to take your opinion seriously.

Be part of the growing number of residents contacting our mayor and councilors to express your displeasure with their blatant impartiality and bias. They’re emails are available on the Town website at https://www.westlock.ca/p/council. And, for bonus points, feel free to contact Alberta Municipal Affairs @ 780-427-3744 and inform them of Town Council’s unethical behavior.

The bylaw that the plebiscite references doesn’t have anything to do with recreation programs, playground equipment, or library story times. Town Council is simply trying to muddy the water. Don’t fall for their latest misinformation campaign. Check out www.westlockneutrality.com for the truth. And on February 22, vote “YES” to restore equality and to help put Town Council back in their place.

https://westlockneutrality.com/truth-westlock-town-councils-latest-misinformation-campaign/

02/12/2024

TRUTH: COUNCIL DOESN’T TELL YOU WHAT TO DO

It’s ironic how Westlock’s mayor and councillors are doing everything in their power to tell us to vote no on a bylaw that’s seeking neutrality and impartiality from our mayor and councillors! They are going all out in openly attacking the plebiscite that will decide its fate. They’ve each committed spreading their message by any means, not leaving out going door to door. An online fundraiser has been setup, apparently by a member of an Edmonton company one of our councillors works for. The largest contributors are municipal officials, past and present. There are plans for mailouts, online advertising, signage, and the promise of funds for ‘inclusive’ playground equipment afterwards. All of this is according to the website they’ve designed solely for the leadup to influence the plebiscite on February 22. Is any of this illegal? Apparently not. But, ethical?

If their past misrepresentations of the bylaw weren’t enough, they’ve now stooped to fearmongering. In recent promotional videos, they ask citizens to consider the “repercussions” the bylaw will have on attracting future business. Essentially, requesting we base our decision making not on the merits of the bylaw, but on the fear of what others who don’t even live in our town will think about us. It’s alarmism wrapped in a negative view of the bylaw, and it’s seemingly impossible for Council to see it as a positive. A bylaw that shows we’re a strong, innovative, and engaging community. One that’s just as welcoming now as it was before any paint was splashed on a crosswalk.

Perhaps in a final act of desperation, their videos then use children to sway public opinion. “What will the impact be on our youth?” I can tell you: nothing. There’s a reason every graduation another group of young adults leaves our community, and it’s not because there aren’t enough painted crosswalks in town. They couldn’t care less. They’re looking for jobs, education, and amenities. Perhaps if Council focused more on those than protecting their pet project we’d be further ahead in youth retention.

For Town Council’s sake, they better succeed in their onslaught. Because if they don’t, then they’re going to have a lot of explaining to do on why they rejected impartiality. A lot of apologizing to the very citizens they tried to dismiss and misrepresent. They’re sparing no expense telling us what to do, and forgetting (or, perhaps ignoring) a fundamental democratic truth: that Council doesn’t tell us what to do. We tell Council.

At the plebiscite on February 22, remind them of that and vote YES!

https://westlockneutrality.com/truth-council-doesnt-tell-you-what-to-do/