Proposal to ban raising of national flags at Calgary city hall delayed after council defeats motion
CBC
An urgent notice of motion to debate banning the raising of national flags at Calgary city hall was narrowly voted down during a Tuesday council meeting.
The proposal, brought forward by Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean, called for council to discuss amendments to Calgary's flag policy during its scheduled public hearing meeting as an "urgent business" matter. Those amendments would include removing sections that allow flags of other countries to be flown at city hall.
"What was once intended as a unifying and symbolic gesture has increasingly become a source of division in our community," said McLean.
The urgent notice of motion was defeated 8-7.
McLean said he plans to bring the motion forward to executive committee but didn't confirm when.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas, who has been vocal about his support for banning the raising of national flags at city hall, said discussing the matter in Tuesday's meeting under "urgent business" would ensure council's decision is "made in the most fair and equitable way possible."
"If we were to accept this [motion] at a later meeting, we risk potentially having dozens of additional applications come in under the current rules," Farkas said. "Doing it that way would create a really uneven playing field where some communities might receive recognition under the old system, while others would fall under the new one."
Farkas pointed to the fact that two national flag raisings, commemorating Bosnia and Herzegovina's Statehood Day and Albania's National Independence Day, are still scheduled for later this month.
"It would really expose council to both political criticism and potential legal scrutiny about why some groups benefitted from the timing and others did not," Farkas said.
According to the mayor's office, Calgary city hall has flown 36 national flags this year.
Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness, who voted against the motion, questioned its urgency and the political motivations behind it.
"This is purely because of the Palestinian flag raising, let's not kid ourselves," she said.
Under Calgary's previous council, a Palestinian flag raising was approved for Nov. 30. That was later changed to Nov. 15, the date of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, to align with city policy.
In September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would recognize Palestinian statehood.
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