On July 1, Erin van Kessel and her family were enjoying Canada Day festivities from the comfort of her north-end home.
To celebrate Canada’s birthday, her daughter Kayla, 10, used spray chalk to draw a Canadian flag in the grass on their boulevard adorned with sparklers. The next day, van Kessel recieved a bylaw infraction warning from the City of Barrie.
“We were enjoying the weather, outside just enjoying ourselves. We had bought this spray chalk for Kayla to use so we thought, why not just draw a Canadian flag to celebrate?” said van Kessel. “She was proud of herself for her work.”
van Kessel says the family watched fireworks and had a great day together. On Thursday, van Kessel says she was surprised to see a bylaw enforcement officer pull up to her home.
“When she pulled up, I knew someone had complained. She chuckled. She asked me if the paint was non-toxic. I told her it was just chalk,” said van Kessel. “She handed me the notice and said I had 24 hours to remove the flag because it was on city property and there was a complaint.”
van Kessel said she was surprised and perplexed.
“Both Kayla and I were like, 'Why? It’s a symbol from a holiday we just celebrated.' We were being told that something we’re proud of, we have to remove?” said van Kessel.
After outcry on social media, on July 3, van Kessel says an employee from the City of Barrie came to her home to personally apologize and rescind the notice, although the 24 hours had already passed since the notice was given and van Kessel had already worked to remove as much of the flag as she could to avoid a fine.
The city also released a public statement concerning the incident, acknowledging they had visited van Kessel.
“On July 2, the city’s enforcement services received and responded to a complaint about individuals painting on city property. Enforcement services officers are obligated to investigate and respond to all complaints received,” wrote Dawn McAlpine, general manager of community and corporate services.
“The city issued a warning to the property owner (not the child), but after further investigation it was determined that given the nature of the infraction, city enforcement services staff will revoke the warning.”
Overall, van Kessel said she understands that city bylaw works on a complaint-based system and the enforcement officer was just doing her job, however she wishes the person who called bylaw in the first place had just spoken to her directly.
“I wasn’t so much bothered by bylaw, I was more bothered that someone would complain. If they had a problem, why not just come to me and ask if it was toxic for animals or children? I would understand (that concern) if that were the case,” she said. “All of this could have been avoided if maybe bylaw came by, said they had a complaint, but instead asked us to just not do it again.”
