Policy waves red flag in face of some city groups
By Timothy Schafer
The flags were flying in city council this week. Council attempted to establish a new policy regarding community flags flying outside of Nelson City Hall August 13 but the matter drew significant attention and concern from the community.
Around one dozen people filed into city council chambers representing various community groups as they appeared to demonstrate their unease over the city’s desire to create a policy regarding flags flown on municipal soil.
“There was some concern (in the community) as to what this meant,” acknowledged Mayor Deb Kozak when she introduced the new flag policy.
Several groups felt they would be losing the right to fly their flags on the eve of upcoming events, such as the Kootenay Gay Pride Week and the Métis Nation.
The City of Nelson has no formal guidelines for the flying of the municipal, provincial, and national flags in front of City Hall, although it has flag poles in front of City Hall where the municipal, provincial, and federal flags are flown.
The policy provided direction for displaying and half-masting flags as well as the use of the flagpoles by community groups. Policy also deals how a flag would be flown at half-mast.
City corporate officer Frances Long said the policy was crafted in a similar fashion to most other B.C. communities where they had a separate pole for flying community flags.
Nelson did not have a separate pole and would historically add a community flag underneath the municipal one during the week of the event.
But with the policy in hand it would be up to council to consider allocating funds for constructing a separate community pole in the next budget, said Long.
Coun. Robin Cherbo disagreed with the new policy, but he did not have opposition to raising a new pole in front of City Hall. Coun. Anna Purcell agreed with Cherbo.
“It would be great to have a community pole but I think it would be lost in the (next) budget discussion and all we would end up with is this policy,” she said.
“I feel like it would be important for us to be more permeable.”
Lots of communities take down their municipal flag and put up a community flag in its place, she said.
“I’m concerned with us not flying community flags and waiting until we have a community pole,” she said. “In the meantime I don’t think we should be banning community flags.”
Coun. Val Warmington said council needed some supporting policy in the interim because the flag pole issue could become contentious as it went along. She also supported the extra pole idea but wondered how the city would govern who gets to run a flag on the pole and who doesn’t.
The city could look at placing a flag pole downtown and not just in front of City Hall, said Coun. Janice Morrison.
“There are other places in the city to fly flags,” she said. “This is about what do we do to get away from controversy.”
She was on the first council that decided to allow the Gay Pride banner to run across Baker Street and noted how contentious it was at the time.
“It’s not a particularly easy decision,” Morrison explained.
She wondered if there was an immediate fix with the Pride parade coming up soon.
City manager Kevin Cormack said the city could approve other flags flying on the poles in front of City Hall on a case-by-case perspective and still adopt the flag policy.
Coun. Michael Dailly made the motion to allow the Pride flag to fly under the city one for 2018. The motion carried.
In the end the flag policy was referred back to city staff — as was the exploration of additional poles in front of City Hall — for more work on wording.
Specific elements of the flag policy were taken from the federal government’s National Flag Etiquette and the province of British Columbia’s flag protocol from the Office of Protocol.
The policy provides a “comprehensive and well-informed approach” to flag protocol for the city.
Waving the flag
1. There are three flagpoles in front of City Hall. These three flagpoles permanently fly the following flags:
- a. The flag of Canada;
- b. The flag of the Province of British Columbia; and
- c. The flag of the City of Nelson.
2. The flag of Canada is the middle and highest flagpole. The flags of the province and the city are the same height, but slightly lower than the flag of Canada.
3. These flags fly throughout the day and night.
4. The City of Nelson will not consider flag raising or lowering for any community group at City Hall and will not engage in any promotions on behalf of any community group.
— Source: City of Nelson
