updated: regina city hall changes flag protocols after israel, palestine controversies
"we are a multicultural city. i tried to find what i thought was an appropriate balance," said city clerk jim nicol.
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supporters gather outside regina city hall as palestine solidarity regina holds a rally in protest of the decision by mayor sandra masters to cancel a flag raising request for palestine's national day of independence. supporters wave palestinian flags outside city hall on friday, november 15, 2024 in regina.
kayle neis
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regina leader-post
the city of regina will no longer fly the flags of other countries in front of city hall, effective immediately.
city council approved a set of changes to the city’s flag and proclamation protocol in a unanimous vote during wednesday’s meeting, after months of waiting to discuss the suggestions from the city clerk.
moving forward, the ceremonial flagpole outside of city hall will only fly the flags of canada, saskatchewan, the city of regina, treaty 4, métis nation and the union jack, as suggested by the office of city clerk jim nicol.
raising the colours of other nations on the flagpole in front of city hall will no longer be allowed, except when a dignitary or diplomat is visiting regina.
the only exceptions are the flags of regina’s sister cities jinan, china and fujioka, japan, which may be allowed as a “gesture of respect” or to commemorate anniversaries, thanks to a friendly amendment by coun. sarah turnbull (ward 5).
flags representing events, non-profit groups or local charities are also still allowed, provided they do not represent any countries.
nicol’s report, first presented in september, dates back to the previous council and follows months of tension after the city granted an ask and flew israel’s flag last spring.
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the clerk’s office granted a request to fly an israeli flag on may 13 in honour of israel’s national independence day, as was allowed under the policy.
coun. shanon zachidniak (ward 8) and former councillor cheryl stadnichuk, who represented ward 1 from 2020 until 2024, said the decision upset some in the community, as it was amid a violent conflict in gaza between israel and hamas, still active at that time.
the two councillors sought to amend the flag policy originally in june, to deny any requests to fly flags of countries that have been investigated for violating international genocide laws.
the previous city council referred the motion last summer by asking the city clerk’s office for recommendations. it was tabled again multiple times in the fall as council worked through a backlog of decision items before the municipal election on nov. 13.
nicol told journalists in november that regina is a multicultural city and he tried to find “an appropriate balance.”
in his report, he expressly advised against switching to have city council be in charge of approving requests directly, as it could cause councillors to be “drawn into debates with geopolitical overtones.”
ward 2 councillor george tsiklis echoed a similar sentiment during wednesday’s meeting.
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“we were not elected to be ministers of foreign affairs, and so i’m glad we’re doing something here,” tsiklis said.
while the policy changes were in limbo, a request last fall to fly the palestine flag on the anniversary of the palestinian declaration of independence was initially granted by the city clerk’s office. however, it was later overruled by outgoing mayor sandra masters, which prompted a rally outside city hall.
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