City Council’s General Committee Hears From 3 Delegations on Flag Policy

Brockville – At Tuesday’s Brockville city council’s general committee meeting, they heard from three delegations in response to the city’s flag policy.

In early January the committee recommended the city reduce the number of flagpoles over the Brockville Railway Tunnel from five to three, which would eliminate the flying of other countries flags, and flags of local community groups such as Interval House, Brockville Pride, or the local National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

This recommendation stemmed from last November’s debate about a request to fly the Palestinian flag, which fell to a tie vote at council.

The committee heard first from Carmen Gottfried, who has been a critic of the flag-flying practice behind City Hall, specifically the proper way to fly the National Flag of Canada.

Gottfried told the committee that when there are two, or more than three flags flying, the National Flag of Canada should be in “the position of honour” on the far left, according to Canadian government guidelines. He also stated that the only time the Canadian flag should be in the middle is when there are three flags flying.

The second delegation was from Jeremy Newman who suggested that the city only have three flag poles over the tunnel and moving a flag pole to Reynolds park where community flags could be flown, while discontinuing flying international flags.

The third delegation was from the Brockville Peace Collective, with speakers, Samia Odeh and Anne Henderson.

Henderson told the committee that the community flags “conveyed to both Brockville citizens and to visitors that our city is globally aware and inclusive.”

“To me, flying the flags of such diverse groups was a sign that I was living in a healthy democracy,” said Henderson. “A healthy democracy is one in which you don’t have to hide your identity to feel at home.”

Odeh who is a Palestinian Christian, stated she no longer wants to hide her cultural identity for fear of abuse, both online or in person.

“For 25 years, I chose to remain silent about being Palestinian and to change my name so it appeared more Canadian, rather than confront the cruel stereotypes that surrounded me,” said Odeh, who in 2024 accepted the Businessperson of the Year Award under the name Samia O’Day.

The general committee unanimously backed a resolution including an online survey to collect public input on the issue, canvassing comment from organizations that have requested flag-raisings, and a review of other municipalities’ policies.

They will look at the matter again in April after getting more feedback.

A video of the general committee meeting can be found here: https://brockville.civicweb.net/document/225067/?splitscreen=true&media=true