The issue of flags was raised again at Burlington City Hall on Tuesday morning during a regular meeting of council.
Council members briefly discussed the flying of foreign national flags at city rec centres and arenas, as well as how ceremonial flag raisings held by the city are operated. Ward 4 councillor Shawna Stolte said she had reviewed the wording on the flag raising bylaw, and proposed an amendment.
“In regard to the phrasing, it spoke of the permanent installation of national flags in our city facilities,” she said. “It’s not to speak of any particular foreign national flags, it’s to speak about the opportunity for consistency and to create an opportunity in our bylaw to truly honour the purpose of flying foreign national flags.”
Stolte said the purpose is to make international visitors and teams feel welcomed in the spirit of sportsmanship, and she is absolutely in support of flying a national flag to represent a visiting team during tournaments when those teams are playing.
Stolte said there is no reason to be permanently flying another nation’s flag at all times.
“We’re not in a place where we have any international community that warrants, at this time, the permanent flying of a flag in any of our facilities,” she said. “It’s just not necessarily appropriate given the time.”
The bylaw says that as standard practice, the city displays flags of other nations alongside the Canadian flag at rec centres during sporting events, tournaments, and for teams playing regularly in Burlington’s divisions. The Burlington Cougars in the Ontario Junior Hockey League regularly play the Buffalo Jr. Sabres from New York state.
All councillors voted to support Stolte’s amendment to the bylaw. The bylaw covers flag raisins and pier lightings, reading that staff honour Burlington’s significant events and organizations in a fair, inclusive, and equitable manner.
Ward 2 councillor Lisa Kearns asked staff how the city is to differentiate between what is a cultural recognition and a faith-based recognition.
“It seems to be a challenge that we’re facing with some of these intertwined cultural contributions, which we do recognize, and the faith based which we are looking to have an alternative for,” she said. “I know some members of our community are looking to have a more robust dialogue on this.”
No specific issues with cultural or faith based proclamations were raised at the meeting, though staff said they are aware of potential issues.
“When we look at proclamations, we have the criteria and policy to check if there could be any concerns either cultural or religious,” Alekandra Hutchinson, elections officer for the city said. “We look to protocols community and see what the standard practices for those instances are.”
The example used was Polish Heritage Month in May, which counts as a cultural proclamation, and may also include a flag raising ceremony.
All councillors voted in favour of the updated bylaw.
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