Will Richmond get a $15K rainbow crosswalk? Council to decide

Richmond City Council is expected to decide whether the city will get its first rainbow crosswalk.

At Monday night's regular council meeting, Richmond's councillors are set to vote on the crosswalk installation, which was proposed for a busy intersection on Minoru Boulevard near the Richmond Public Library and City Hall.

The idea was first brought to a general purposes committee meeting last Monday and passed almost unanimously. Coun. Chak Au was the single vote against the proposal, however.

"I think that my major concern is the way that the decision is being made," Au told CTV News, adding that he didn't feel that there was enough time to contact members of the public.

Au added that he fully supported the city's Pride Week activities, but was worried about the "permanency" of a painted crosswalk, which is expected to cost $15,000 to install.

"I think there are opinions on both sides," he said. "I hope that tonight at city council we can at least put off the decision for now and have a public consultation."

Au said he will ask for the matter to be referred back to staff both for consultation and for a formal process to be outlined in case proposals like this are made again in the future.

"Somebody may want to have some kind of symbol or crossing for the First Nations for reconciliation and there may be another group saying, 'We have the dragon boat festival coming up so should we have a dragon boat crossing somewhere in Richmond or in Steveston?' And a mental health group may say they want something for the mental health week in October," he said.

"So if we open this door at this time, I can foresee that there might be other groups coming up with requests."

For Coun. Kelly Greene, who voted in favour of the installation, the proposed crosswalk would send an important message.

"I think it's really important that we have a visual symbol that we're a welcoming community for everybody and that they are safe and valued," she said.

"I think (the location) is really great. It connects our library with our city hall and school board offices so it's really quite central to … the hub of Richmond and how it comes together. So when you connect those civic facilities with a rainbow crosswalk I think that it's really important."

Greene also disagreed with Au's request for public input.

"I don't think that this is something we need to consult with. This is recognizing that LGBTQ+ folks are equally important in the community and that they're protected is part of our charter rights as Canadians," she said.

"Recently there was a celebration for folks in the Filipino community and we didn't consult on that … so I don’t think that we need to consult for every single thing that we do to recognize that different groups that are a part of the community in Richmond."

Greene added that she's heard mostly positive feedback over the past week.

"Personally I've had a ton of people reach out and say how thrilled they were that we were coming into the modern age and that they're so happy that we're joining other communities that have rainbow crosswalks," she said.

The issue is currently on council's consent agenda for Monday's meeting, which means unless it's explicitly removed for further discussion, the matter is likely to pass.