Barrie councillors pave the way for rainbow crosswalk

A rainbow crosswalk has been installed at Joseph and Gaukel streets in downtown Kitchener. (Dan Lauckner / CTV Kitchener)

Barrie city councillors paved the way for a rainbow crosswalk on Monday evening.

At Ward 2 Councillor Keenan Aylwin’s request, the general committee agreed to fund the $7,000 rainbow-coloured walkway from the Community Benefit Reserve.

It was a contested vote that narrowly passed. Several councillors argued that the funds could be raised to prevent taxpayers from footing the bill.

Councillor Mike McCann decided that taxpayers shouldn’t ‘be on the hook’ for the crosswalk and in less than 24-hours McCann raised funds by reaching out to community members and a few business associates.

McCann will share the names of the donors on Monday at city council.

Once council approves the fundraising initiative, the crosswalk will be installed on Aug. 1 across Simcoe Street at Meridian Place.