There’s a plan to bring the RCMP Musical Ride to Owen Sound this summer.
City council approved a recommendation at its meeting Monday night to approve the use of the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre on Sept. 9-10 for the event.
“This is a special family event intended to bring the community together,” Owen Sound’s Director of Community Services Pam Coulter says.
Councillors were told the Owen Sound Rotary Club is working to bring the show to the Scenic City and plan to use it to fundraise for planned kitchen renovations at Presqu’ile Rotary YMCA Camp.
This year marks the 150th anniversary tour of the RCMP Musical Ride. The show features mounted police and their horses performing drills and formations set to music, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police website explains.
Coun. Jon Farmer was the lone councillor to vote against the routine recommendation. He used the forum to make a political statement against the RCMP.
“I think the Rotary Club does great work. I think Presqu’ile is really important. I think the RCMP Musical Ride and the RCMP generally is problematic,” Farmer says. “The RCMP has a long history of violence against marginalized communities and women … I’m not comfortable supporting what is the public relations arm of the RCMP.”