Friday, October 3, 2014

Statement on Celebrate Life Week

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

The City of Williams Lake is aware of the controversy surrounding its proclamation of Celebrate Life Week at its Council meeting of September 16th.

Council’s role in making proclamations is to help increase awareness of a social goal or movement (e.g. cancer prevention and awareness, Williams Lake’s Stampede season, elder abuse awareness, Legion Week) without endorsing the group or individual requesting the proclamation. The City of Williams Lake does not expend funds to advertise proclamations.
Proclamations do not originate from Council or from the City of Williams Lake. Requests are received by the City and considered by Council.

The Celebrate Life Week proclamation speaks to the value of human life, that this value is not a result of what a person does or produces, but a result of each person’s uniqueness, and that society should be concerned about every human life.

It was never Council’s intention to offer an opinion on the ongoing abortion debate or to endorse either side of the debate. Neither the proclamation request nor the proclamation itself speak to this debate.

As Celebrate Life Week is currently underway , Council will not rescind the 2014 Celebrate Life Week proclamation, and will give serious consideration to the feedback received going forward. Council will explore developing a proclamation policy for all future requests.

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