The possibility of permanently flying the Franco-Ontarian flag at Greenstone could once again be ruled out. In a report to be presented Monday, the city’s administrative director, Mark Wright, judges that this is not “necessary” and recommends “that no changes” be made to the new flag arrangement policy.
According to Mr. Wright, not permanently flying the Franco-Ontarian flag would be the “least costly” decision. “Given the infrastructure deficit the municipality currently experiences, as well as other needs within the community, resources are limited and council is therefore unfortunately faced with the need to balance what can sometimes be two needs opposites. What is good and what is necessary. »
In February, the council of the municipality north of Thunder Bay changed its flag arrangement policy. As part of a “reconciliation” approach, the administration wanted to be able to fly the flag of the Every Child Matters indigenous cause, particularly on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, September 30.
But rather than buying a fourth flagpole, she chose to lower the Franco-Ontarian flag, which had flown permanently over the city since 2015. The green and white flag and the orange flag will now be raised “for a period of up to go up to five days” each year.
Faced with the mobilization of the French-speaking community, the municipal council had agreed by majority – only the two French-speaking elected officials voted against – to require a report by June presenting “options for recognition of French-speaking and indigenous communities”.
All possible solutions ruled out
In the document that will be presented to the mayor and municipal council on St. John’s Day, the administrative director of Greenstone rules out community funding for two new masts proposed by the Association des francophones du nord-ouest de l’Ontario (AFNOO ).
“If the municipality were to raise a flag for a population in recognition of their historical contributions to the region, it must have the willingness and ability to raise it for other people who have had such a significant impact on the region. » However, AFNOO proposed to raise funds to purchase two masts “dedicated to communities, including Aboriginal people”.
The “simplest solution”, which would be to install enough poles to fly “the Franco-Ontarian flag as well as that of each indigenous community in the region”, would cost the municipality more than $150,000, estimates elsewhere Mr. Wright. “If the municipality had $150,000, would it be better to use it to install flag poles or to maintain basic infrastructure? »
Hoisting only the Franco-Ontarian flag and that of Every Child Matters would be less expensive, but would not represent “all the experiences lived by indigenous peoples,” he argues.
Funding and signaling
The administrative director, however, proposes “other ways to recognize the contributions” of Franco-Ontarians. The first is to annually finance “a Franco-Ontarian cultural event” in four of the seven communities in the municipality. This would cost “at most” $2,000.
Mr. Wright also recommends, “where possible,” providing multilingual signage and welcome signs in new “community centers and playgrounds.” These would be readable in English, French and Aboriginal syllabics.
The establishment of an advisory committee, which would consider other initiatives to “more effectively recognize the contributions of Franco-Ontarians and Indigenous people to the region”, is finally suggested.
More details will follow…
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.