Mayor tells CHCH TV why she was given a King's Coronation medal

By Pepper Parr

September 14^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

There she was sitting on the upholstered bench CHCH television uses for its Morning Show with the interviewer prepared to toss softball questions.

Interviewer: Mayor Marianne Meed Ward joins us this morning for a Burlington check in; before we find out what’s going on in the city. What are you wearing right now?

Mayor Meed Ward: I am wearing a pin that is part of the King’s Medal Award that I just got. It was total shock. I cried when I got the notice. Somebody nominated me. I don’t know who.  There’s an actual coin. It’s got King Charles on one side, the other side is this. It’s a 13 pointed star with a crown, and that’s for all of Canada’s provinces and territories. But I can only wear the medal at military events, formal council meetings, or, you know, very ceremonial or Speech from the Throne, which in my case would be a State of the City address.

But I can wear this pin every day. It was  very unexpected, a huge honour. I’m just, so overwhelmed with, with the support and the community has been very kind and saying, you know, you’ve earned this. So it’s  awesome.

Interviewer: This is the King Charles coronation metal. And what’s it for? Is it for service to community ?

Mayor Meed Ward: It’s for service to community country.

So it can be a local community. It can be nationwide. One of the reasons that I was given this was really an initiative that I started off the side of my desk, something beyond being the Mayor.

“It’s a Her Halton group; elected representatives who are women. We’ve been talking about the toxic nature of politics, and we developed a pledge that we commit ourselves to respectful debate, and we ask others to take the pledge as well.  This was picked up by the Canadian feminist parliamentarians across the country –  we’ve had dozens and dozens of people sign their name to the pledge.”

A concern a lot of people have with Mayor Meed Ward is with what she says and what she actually does.  There was an occasion when she chose to manipulate a Council Agenda that she was chairing virtually and attempting to  coerce a member of Council into apologizing for the treatment of a staff member. It was a brutal occasion. Link to that event is HERE.

Mayor Meed Ward: The formation of the group is something I did outside of my role as Mayor, over and above the usual duties that I have. That was one of the reasons, another was raising awareness about mental health, addictions, homelessness in our well, really in our country, but certainly in municipalities here, large and small, rural, urban  –  everyone’s facing it.  We launched a campaign through the Ontario Big City Mayors to solve the crisis. Those were some of the things that they thought were worth acknowledging. So, you know, this is work I do because I love it, and I just want to make the community better, make Burlington better. It was nice to get the award, and I wear it with pride. I did cry a lot, rightfully so.

Interviewer: You want more people engaged? You want people to learn about how their council impacts them because Municipal Affairs, when you think about it, that is the level of government that affects your day to day living.

Oakville North Burlington MP Pam Damoff presenting Burlington Mayor Meed Ward with the certificate that accompanies the King Charles III Coronation Medal

Mayor Meed Ward: Absolutely, you know, I was a community organizer before I was elected. I’m a huge believer in bringing people together and where we agree on the issues and where we can advance something.

 Interviewer” You want to hear their take on free transit.

Mayor Meed Ward: Yes. We have chipped away at free transit: it’s free for youth under 12, seniors, 24/7, low income residents, young people, evenings and weekends. We’ve already we’ve seen massive increases in ridership because it just eliminates the barrier to get around.

We directed our staff to actually consult about, should we just go the whole, you know, full nine yards, right? And make it free for everyone. A survey is out there.  We will be getting a report back, and I’m really looking forward to what the community has to say.

Interviewer: Okay, deadline to respond ?

 Mayor Meed Ward: No deadline, respond any time to the survey. We’ll be deciding in the fall, and you can come to delegate at committee and council to get your views in on that one.

Interviewer: Marianne Meed  Ward Mayor of Burlington. Thanks very much.

There you have it – the Mayor’s explanation as to why she was given one of the King’s Coronation Medal that was handed out to her by Oakville North Burlington MP Pam Damoff.