Is there a Christmas spirit in Fredericton?
FREDERICTON – With the passing of Remembrance Day, societies focus in Canada jumps straight to the Christmas holiday and all of its materialistic glory. This is exactly the case in New Brunswick’s capital, but what’s not to love about the holiday season in Fredericton?
Officers Square fills with skates, eight-thousand lights illuminate the city, Santa greets in the mall…
With all the decorations and festivities, countless activities to do and lots of money to be spent, the Christmas spirit seems to be alive and well in Fredericton. Or is it?
The actual purpose of Christmas is to be kind and “care for thy neighbor”—especially those who need it most—not spend thousands on gifts.
That being said, it’s plain to see our city is following along just as every other Western society—replacing the true meaning of Christmas with a focus on purchasing whatever new Apple product is trending– such as one of their most popular new products; ‘Airpods’.
It’s a horrible culture that has made its way into Fredericton— people more worried about gifts than the fact that the homeless community is just now getting additional shelter to not freeze this winter.
19 year-old STU student and life-long Frederictonian Ashley Scott agreed matters should have been solved much earlier and that there’s definitely some selfishness in the community.
“I’m thankful they’re getting the help they need with the shelter but I’m disappointed it has taken this long. Every year Christmas comes by and families spend thousands on gifts when there is people in their own community freezing.” Scott said.
Another life-long Frederictonian and university student (though at UNB), Cole Campbell, was asked about the communities obliviousness as well.
“There’s a lot of hypocrisy in this city, I’ve noticed,” Campbell started. “There’s a lot of people with full pockets to spare but ultimately choose not to. Christmas comes around and we spend so much on gifts when just a few dollars could have an impact for the homeless community. It’s selfish, and a problem everyone needs to work on fixing.”
The provincial government will work with the John Howard Society of Fredericton and the Downtown Community Health Centre to offer additional shelter space to help what has been a tremendous issue over the past few years.
Though how long until the culture changes?