REGINA - In a unanimous vote, the Regina city council has voted in favour of passing a revised Flag and Proclamation Policy.
Under the revised policy, only the Canadian, Sask., Union Jack, City of Regina, Treaty 4, and Métis Nation flags will be flown in the courtyard and council chamber.
With the motion passed, the city will no longer raise nations' flags for their National Day/Day of Independence. The city will also now deny requests for a nation's flag to be raised on the ceremonial flagpole.
When discussing their thoughts on the matter, Ward 4 Coun. Mark Burton said, "I am glad to see the new flag policy here to be sparse. Just sticking to the key things that matter, the world is a complicated place to come up with a policy that covers every permutation, combination, situation, and explanation [that] becomes burdensome. And, as a councillor. I want to work on the things that matter to the citizens of Regina, you know, Not get caught up in various things that appear in the world."
Ward 2 Coun. George Tsiklis also chimed in on the matter. Tsiklis said, "As I’ve said to my colleagues and anyone who listens, we were not elected to be ministers of foreign affairs. So, I am happy that we’re trying to do something here."
Tsiklis also brought up the argument from the other side about not changing the flag-raising policy. He mentioned hearing from St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church, who felt the changes were not fair.
Tsiklis noted how the Greek community has been in Regina for 100 years. In that century, they have done various events to raise money for local charities and have put millions into the Regina economy, said Tsiklis.
Seeing as the country of Greece only has one flag, Tsiklis pointed out, "we’re kind of trapped in this situation [regarding the policy changes].
Even with the policy changes, Tsiklis highlighted how the local Greek community will still find a way to represent themselves in the area.
Tsiklis brought up how Ward 6 Coun. Victoria Flores has been working towards figuring out ways local communities can still represent themselves without raising a flag.
Flores mentioned the importance of recognizing the communities that have done a lot for the city. She added, "I think that good work inspires more good work."
It’s important to note there are still ways a country can have its flag raised. One way is if a dignitary of a nation that has diplomatic relations with Canada is visiting Regina, as a gesture of respect, city hall can raise that country’s flag.
Burton also brought up a question to city clerk Jim Nicol, asking if the option to raise a certain flag under circumstances would be possible.
Nicol said it’s up to city council to make that choice, and the city will follow the direction of its decision.
Regina will also continue to raise the flags of their sister cities, which are Jinan, China and Cane, Japan, as a separate amendment for the motion was passed by city council.
The updated policy was first presented to the city council in July 2024 after the Israeli flag was flown at city hall to commemorate the country's independence back in 1948. After the flag was raised under the previous policy guidelines, the city faced backlash, leading to the proposed changes to the flag-raising policy. It was then referred back to Nicol to prepare a report in Sept. 2024 that includes options and recommendations.
Regina then faced controversy back in Nov. when the city originally approved the raising of a Palestine flag. Previous Regina Mayor Sandra Masters later ordered the flag-raising not to proceed, which caused backlash from protestors.
After city council, Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski was asked his thoughts on the changes. Bachynski said, "that's what we [all] want[ed]. We want to focus on city issues and avoid global politics. That's really the core of it. So yeah, I think it's a good step to move forward and try and focus on city issues."
Bachynski was also asked about dealing with agendas from the previous city council. He said, "I mean, it would probably be most helpful to have all of them [delegates and former councillors] come and help [us] understand where exactly it came from, but I will say administration has done an incredible job helping council understand the background as well as the clerk's office to help us understand, you know, some of the background and, you know, navigate, you know, where we may want to have some of those discussions and at the end of the day, it's up to this council to understand if we want to move forward with those discussions and that's what we've been doing."
