Norwich Canada Day Committee Hosts Special Meeting

Thursday, 12 April 2018 at 10:01

The Norwich Canada Day Committee has decided to continue with their plan to host their celebration on July 2nd this year after a special meeting last night.

NORWICH - The Township of Norwich Canada Day Committee held a special meeting to address the concerns around the celebration happening on July 2nd this year at Oxford Centre.

After listening to the input from the audience, the committee has decided to continue with their plan of having the Canada Day celebrations on Monday July 2nd. The Committee members clearly outlined the reasons for having the celebrations a day after Canada Day. They are as follows:

· Logistical considerations

· Available entertainment

· Inclusiveness for all community members

· Monday July 2nd being the designated statutory holiday in accordance with the Holidays Act

They also wanted to make it clear that neither the Committee or Township Council was approached by any individuals or groups, requesting or pressuring them to not hold the event on a Sunday.

Norwich Township Mayor Larry Martin was in attendance and told the crowd that Township Council will continue to respect and support the decisions of the volunteer committee.

"Council sincerely appreciates that these individuals have generously volunteered their time to provide a great event. There is so much work that these people are doing for the community, and we all benefit from their efforts – these events simply could not happen without such volunteers. I know that with their dedication, the 2018 event will again be a huge success, and I encourage everyone to attend."

Martin says he was surprised by the amount of media attention this story has received.

"Well I was shocked, especially from the attention outside the area, I kind of thought it was a localized issue, I realize it is about Canada's birthday but I just thought it was a local issue. Under the holiday act, it says that if Canada Day falls on a Sunday then the statutory holiday is on Monday and it will be called Canada Day. Anyway that is behind us now and hopefully we can move forward and have a real banner year for the Canada Day celebrations on July 2nd 2018."

In order to further clarify that the intent is not to "move" Canada Day itself, the Committee opted to name the event "Proud Past, Bright Future, A Canadian Celebration."