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Locals say Norwich Church Holds Influence Over Decision Making

Wednesday, 10 May 2023 at 17:36

By Keasha Maile X @turtlepowerlive

Photo Credit: Norwich BIA Facebook page, @NorwichBIA

The Canadian Press has reached out to Church leaders and the mayor, but they did not respond to interview requests.

NORWICH – Multiple residents in Norwich Township are speaking out after council voted 3-2 in favour of a motion to prohibit Pride flags on municipal property.

The community is saying that a local church holds an outsized influence within the community.

James Forrest, a University of Waterloo professor who has lived in Norwich for almost 20 years, is one the residents who agree that Netherlands Reformed Congregation has taken over decision-making in the town.

The Netherlands Reformed Congregation was established in 1949. It sits in a well-tended building nestled in the township of 11,000 people that is surrounded by farmland.

The Congregation has also been noted going to business in the town that are open on Sundays, stating that being open on the Christian day of rest will ‘put you out of business.’ Norwich is one of the only municipalities that completely shuts down on Sundays, a practice generally abandoned across the province since the early 1990s.

Norwich Township captured attention last month when the local council voted 3-2 in favour of a motion calling for a flag policy that states only government flags can be flown on municipal property.

The Canadian Press has reached out to Church leaders and the mayor, but they did not respond to interview requests.

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