Kelowna bell-ringing ceremony to honour missing and murdered aboriginal women

KELOWNA – The bells will be ringing in Kelowna this weekend, 1,122 times to be exact.

A request by The Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels on Sutherland Avenue to ring its bell multiple times this Sunday has been approved by city council. The symbolic ringing of the bell on June 21, National Aboriginal Day, is meant to represent the 1,122 missing and murdered aboriginal women identified by the RCMP.

Councillors generally supported the request except for Coun. Charlie Hodge, who questioned how long neighbours would be willing to put up with the noise.

“I think the purpose of this is very significant and poignant,” Hodge said. “But how long is it going to take? if I’m in the neighbourhood, the charm is going to wear off after about 15 minutes.”

The estimated length of time the bells would be ringing was not supplied in the original letter to council making the request, but deputy city clerk Karen Needham told council she had been told 30 to 45 minutes. In a submission to council David Crawley, priest-in-charge, said the church had originally been asked to perform the ceremony every Wednesday for four weeks but decided on its own to modify the request.

“I still think that after an hour of the bell ringing, we know whose phone is going to be ringing off the hook. Having heard my fellow councillors on this and having a brother who is an Anglican priest, I don’t suppose I dare vote against this but if anyone’s concerned, the mayor’s name is Colin Basran,” Hodge joked.

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