A councillor in the municipality of Fundy Albert says she’ll respect the rest of council’s decision not to entertain a motion about participating in a nearby Pride parade.
Rebecca Davis, who represents Ward 5, said she’ll still be participating in the River of Pride Parade in Moncton on Aug. 8, but as a private citizen, not as a representative of the community of Fundy Albert.
“I decided these people in our community deserve to feel that somebody was there for them on their council, even if the non-seconding might have appeared otherwise,” Davis told CBC News.
“So I can respect the will of council, and I can also do the right thing.”
On July 7, Davis brought a motion to council that would allow councillors and residents to march with a Fundy Albert banner. But when no one on council seconded her motion, it couldn’t even be debated.
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Fundy Albert councillor’s Pride participation motion met with silence
Rebecca Davis asked to walk in Moncton’s Pride parade. Council didn’t even want to talk about it.
“It’s pretty understood this is a very traditional, more old-fashioned thinking rural area,” said Davis. “I tried to make it as much of a compromise as possible, ensuring that nothing was being shoved in anybody’s face.”
Davis said she’d heard from a lot of 2SLGBTQ+ voters and youth while she was campaigning for council who said they’d like the option.
“Multiple teens, families who said, ‘I have to march in the pride parade every year with a different municipality or a different group. Can you please make it so that I can march with people from our area and feel like we’re welcome and they’re proud of us?’” she said.
“I knew there wasn’t an appetite, let’s say, for a pride festival or a crosswalk or anything too progressive in the area, but I did speak to a number of people who wanted to feel represented in some way.”
‘I thought it was 2026’
Fundy Albert doesn’t have its own Pride parade, with the closest neighbouring communities that offer one being Saint John and Moncton.
Davis said she expected some negative responses from community members, but not nearly the amount she has received in the past few weeks since posting about the motion on social media.
“I didn’t think it would be a big controversial issue, to be honest. I thought it was 2026,” she said.
“If you ever wonder why a pride parade is still necessary, check out the comments section on a post about it.”
But Davis said she’s also gotten a lot of support from other community members.
One of those people is Jeannette LeBlanc, who plans to march with Davis’s independent group of residents in the Moncton parade.
“Since we moved here from Riverview seven years ago, we’ve continued to March with the town of Riverview because there was no representation for our area,” said LeBlanc, who has a transgender child.
Jeannette LeBlanc says she plans to march with Davis this weekend, and that the backlash makes her want to participate even more. (Victoria Walton/CBC)
LeBlanc said she was disappointed but not surprised that council didn’t want to discuss the invitation from Pride organizers.
“I think that they should realize that there are members of the LGBTQIA community that are in their municipality,” she said. “This is something that shows people that they’re supported.”
‘You don’t need to be brave alone’
The Mayor of Fundy Albert, Jim Campbell, said in an emailed statement to CBC News that because they didn’t discuss the motion, council doesn’t have an official position he can comment on.
“Fundy Albert council is committed to serving all residents respectfully.” said Campbell in the statement.
Fundy Albert Mayor Jim Campbell, pictured here in a 2020 photo, says council doesn’t have an official position because it didn’t debate the motion. (Pierre Fournier/CBC)
Davis wants to keep things positive, but she said some people have dubbed her a troublemaker. She argues she was just pushing for something her constituents told her they wanted, just as she would with any other issue.
“I respond to the folks calling me a troublemaker, saying if that means I focus on roads and plowing and economic development and things like that, as well as equality, all right, you can put that label on me,” said Davis.
“But I’ll still be there for you when you need your road fixed. because I do believe in representing everybody and that’s why I’m doing this.”
Davis said that she has a strong group of supporters who will march in the parade with her on Saturday, but that she will stick to the municipal CAO’s advice of not using municipal logos or signage.
The River of Pride parade will weave its way through the streets of downtown Moncton on Saturday Aug. 8. (Babatundé Lawani/Radio-Canada)
“I was really afraid after all this went down and after all the negative calls and comments I received from people that maybe people would be too afraid to march,” said Davis. “But I’ve heard from a lot of people saying you don’t need to be brave alone, and we’ll march with you.”
And LeBlanc said that the backlash surrounding the Pride parade participation has made her even more eager to participate.
“Just to educate people,” she said. “It would be nice if people would be interested in being educated, but it seems like that’s not the case…They don’t want to hear it. They just want to stay the same, and not progress.”