Municipal councillors have decided they want bilingual road signs to be erected in communities
around Richmond County.
Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette told last night’s regular monthly meeting that she wrote Public Works Minister Keith Masland to reiterate the municipality’s wish to participate in the program where the province will install and pay for signs in English and French in Acadian and Francophone regions of Nova Scotia.
Masland responded that council can highlight communities that might not want such signs. District 5 Councillor Brent Sampson and District 2 Councillor Michael Diggdon said bilingual signs might not be as relevant in some parts of their districts, and other districts, but in final analysis, Sampson said this would amount to splitting hairs and would get council too deep in the weeds trying to figure out which communities should and shouldn’t have such signs, with Diggdon noting there are tourism considerations and the fact Richmond is considered a provincially protected Acadian riding.
District 1 Councillor Shawn Samson said all of Isle Madame, and as many places across the county should have those signs, and Deputy Warden Melanie Sampson agreed declaring the signs should be everywhere, even in communities where it isn’t necessarily applicable.
Mombourquette requested to the province that the signs not replace existing French or Mi’kmaw signs.