Cassidy Villeneuve speaks out for peace.
Community leaders along with mayors from Powassan and East Ferris joined North Bay Mayor Al McDonald for a peace rally at the Davedi Club on Saturday afternoon.
Mayor Al McDonald had been coordinating the public event ever since the Charlie Hebdo shootings. Charlie Hebdo is a magazine known for its satirical cartoons. On January 7th, in Paris, France, 17 people were killed and eleven people injured.
Mayor McDonald feels that the community benefits from the peace rally as a show of solidarity for the victims of the Parisian tragedy while addressing what's important to our community.
Dr. Pawan Kumar, a cardiologist from India, had not lived in a predominantly white community before moving to North Bay in July. On call from the North Bay Regional Health Centre, Kumar lauded the peace rally. “With everyone expressing what’s in our hearts, it reinforces that we are all in this together.” Kumar wished more people from the public attended and that more peace rallies are held in the future.
Marty Brown told the story of how the entire community came together to help the Sons of Jacob synagogue with a bad flood. He in turn helped the then reverend for St. Andrew’s Church, Jim Sinclair with fundraising to fix the foundation of the church across the street. Brown received a good chuckle from the crowd when he said he didn’t want the steeple falling on the synagogue.
Ex-journalist and now Director of the North Bay and District Multicultural Centre Don Curry told the crowd that his two sons are journalists. Curry explained the importance of having free speech and political satire. “Satire in some cases, is a most effective way to understand a society, a way of life...”
Curry went on to say that we are a welcoming community but we have to become more diverse and address issues. “The Warming Centre, the North Bay Food Bank, and The Gathering Place are symptoms of underlying problems. We can be hopeful with having a progressive mayor and caring supports.” Curry suggested there would be more accountability in social media if people who commented on news stories online had to give their real names.
Sylvie Vanier, VP and champion of Non Au Bullying at L'ecole Odyssee says the message is we can never stop giving.
"This was a call out to celebrate being an inclusive and accepting society be it in your home, with your neighbors, within your community and out into the bigger world."
The event failed to capture the public's imagination. Of the 35 people there, almost all were speakers and relatives.
Photos in link below.
