WARMINGTON: Canadian flag removal for Pride flag at Carney's office raises questions

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The Canadian flag being removed from the front entrance of the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa and replaced with the intersex-inclusive Pride flag raised eyebrows of people walking by Friday.  

As captured in video by Dacey Media, you can hear some expressing displeasure as crews on top of a small construction lift on the back of a truck, took down the Maple Leaf on a small flagpole and replaced it with the multi-coloured flag.  

Until then, there had been a Canadian flag on each side of the front door of the most powerful office in the land, on Wellington St., across the Parliament Hill. Today, there is a Canadian flag on the left side and the Pride flag on the right.  

There is no record of Canadians voting to share the spotlight of the country with Pride or any other activist or charity organization. There certainly has not been a vote by MPs in the House of Commons to make another flag equal to Canada’s outside the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).  

This was a flag raising and removal that raises questions:  Why take a Canadian flag down in front of the PMO and swap in something else? What is the reason for doing so? Who approved this?

The PMO has not so far responded.  Ottawa’s Capital Pride has also not so far commented. There is nothing as of this filing about this flag being displayed at the PMO or on government or Pride websites.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney has not posted about this on either of his X accounts.   

But back on June 10, on the Canadian PM X account, is a photograph of Carney raising Pride flags at Parliament Hill with the message to celebrate “pride season.” It stated “today, Prime Minister Mark Carney joined Canadians at the Pride Flag Raising Ceremony. As we raise our voices — and our flags — we celebrate 2SLGBTQI+ communities and remain committed to building a Canada where everyone can live freely and with #pride.”  

Raising a flag in support of an event is in keeping with Canadian tradition.

But taking down a Canadian flag to put up something in its place, and doing so at the PMO, is different than raising it at a city hall or provincial government building. A look at the Canadian Heritage website which oversees flag protocol doesn’t specifically cover lowering a Canadian flag and raising something else in its place.

But it does say “the national flag must be flown at all federal government buildings, airports, as well as military bases and establishments within and outside Canada.”  

It also states “the national flag of Canada always takes precedence over all other national flags when flown on Canadian soil. Therefore, it should always be placed in the position of honour.”  

The appropriate position of honour is to ensure the Maple Leaf is always to the left of the flag its sharing the stage with. While the site does mention the Union Jack, the King’s flag and also NATO, Commonwealth and United Nations flags, it does not mention Pride or any other private organization.

But this is not the first time a Pride flag has been given prominence at a Canadian government office or shared the space.  

For example, as the Toronto Sun reported in June, at Canada’s embassy in Hong Kong, it was noticed a Pride-Maple Leaf hybrid flag was displayed in the front lobby along with the Canadian flag – along with a government social media posting a picture of the altered flag.  The federal government’s @Canada social media account — with more than a million followers — displayed this flag and wrote “in Canada we know that diversity is our strength and we love to celebrate it,” and “this #BeingYouDay, let it be a reminder to be authentically yourself and celebrate all the things that make you, YOU!”  

Back in December, the mayor of Emo Township in Northwestern Ontario, was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, says it was garnashed from his bank account and he was ordered to take sensitivity training (all being appealed) after council voted to not fly a rainbow flag in front of its town hall.

It’s unclear who made the decision to fly this new Pride flag in front of the PMO or what transpired behind the scenes. Was this something Carney decided to do in support or was there a risk of being fined? 

Whatever the back story is, if a flag that is not Canada’s is going to be installed while the Maple Leaf comes down, there should be a debate on it in Parliament and a vote taken on the matter. The PMO is not a private office but located in a building that belongs to all Canadians.

While Carney has not yet commented on the flag outside his office, at the Vancouver Pride parade on Aug. 3, he told reporters the event signifies “the “essence of Canada,” and “thrilled to be a part of it,” he called the parade a “celebration” which is “what is great about our country.”  

While it’s still not confirmed whether this flag is being flown in honour of the Capital Pride Week, it’s clear the Pride flag is sitting outside the PMO on one side of the front door while the Canadian flag is on the other.