Dear Councillors:

This letter marks the first time that we have written you.  Such is the significance of the matter at hand.

We urge you to please reconsider your decision to proceed with "a citywide sounding of emergency vehicle sirens followed by five minutes of silence or discussion of Indigenous issues before fireworks will be lit at dusk July 1.”  I can only guess that this decision was reached without any consultation with local First Nations or the public for that matter. 

Not only will such a spectacle serve to trigger anxiety amongst many residents, it serves no purpose whatsoever to address the national residential school tragedy.  Owen Sound will become a laughing stock, make no mistake.  The same applies to the fireworks.

David and Anne-Marie McLeish
Owen Sound