Fort St. John resident offended by Halloween decoration of construction worker hanging from tree

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Resident Colleen MacDonald has sent a letter to the City of Fort St. John, outlining concern over a specific Halloween decoration she spotted between October 31st and November 8th.

Her November 16th letter notes the decoration was a full-sized construction worker in blue and yellow coveralls hanging by its neck from a tree. MacDonald says she did report the decoration to a city bylaw officer but feels she was brushed off.

“Mental health issues and suicide prevention are topics that should be at the forefront of peoples’ minds, particularly for a society and a community that is still recovering from the isolation of the COVID lock-downs,” writes MacDonald.

“I feel the noted Halloween decoration was in extremely poor taste as, in my opinion, it idolized suicide and could be seen as targeting a specific sector of our hardworking community, construction workers,” she added.

The decoration was also close to a children’s playground and visible from the Alaska Highway, explained MacDonald.

“I did not drive around the community as a whistleblower to target any particular property that was decorated, nor am I a person that typically seeks out to complain about something like this,” she further noted.

MacDonald says the city may want to consider publishing decoration guidelines for the community and property taxpayers in the future to avoid triggering those who have lost loved ones to suicide.

The letter can be read in full below: