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Photo by ADRIAN LAM / TIMES COLONIST

While the city pays for seasonal lighting decorations such as the stars or snowflake lights on light standards, and the lighting of trees on Government Street, the lighting of Centennial Square is done by the business assoctiation.

Even though the association bears the cost of lighting up Centennial Square, it is a public space and the city should make sure it is inclusive and the city should not be turning the sequoia into a Christmas tree, Isitt said.

“Muslims, unless they are mixed families, they don’t have Christmas trees in their homes. Jewish people, like me, don’t have Christmas trees in their homes,” Isitt said.

However, he acknowledged that overtly religious symbolism has been “dialled back” over the years.

“I think there are still many elements of Christian symbolism that are paid for with taxpayer dollars and, for me, that doesn’t reflect a clear division between church and state.”

Isitt said having lights downtown “is great” and snowflakes “probably strike the right balance” but he city should ensure it is being inclusive.

While councillors supported the review, not all of them shared Isitt’s concerns.

Coun. Sharmarke Dubow, who is a Muslim, said rather than offending many immigrants, Christmas lights can be an interesting aspect of a new culture.

“I was born on Christmas Day. This is symbolic and I like them (the lights), on a personal note.”

Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe said efforts have been made over the years to rein in Christian elements of decorations and moved to outlines of snowflakes and candles as more reflective of a winter holiday. She said decorating downtown is good business.