Barrie’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 147 has had its three flags — Canadian, Ontario and Union Jack — at full-mast since Monday and that’s where they will stay past Remembrance Day.
Many flags across the country have been lowered to — and stayed at — half-mast since last spring to honour Indigenous children who died at Canada’s residential schools.
“Once we put them up again after the (Remembrance Day) ceremony, we’re leaving them there,” Fern Taillefer, first vice-president of Barrie’s legion branch and its veterans’ service officer, told BarrieToday. “We’re not being disrespectful in any way, shape or form. We’re just carrying on with our normal day-to-day duties.
“I’m Indigenous and yes, we understand the plight, the whole thing," Taillefer said. "But the (Barrie) legion has decided that, you know, it’s been long enough. The plight is there, we get it, but we are going to carry on with our day-to-day routine. And I’ve talked to a lot of elders and they tell me, they say, it’s enough, it’s time.”
Jeff Monague is a former chief of Beausoleil First Nation on Christian Island, the superintendent of Springwater Provincial Park, and writes a regular column on Indigenous issues for BarrieToday. He is also a veteran of the Canadian Forces.
“That’s unfortunate,” Monague said of the full-staff flags at the Barrie legion on Ferris Lane. “There’s a lot of reasons why I don’t belong to the legion. There’s another one.”
Barrie Native Friendship Centre (BNFC) executive director Samantha Kinoshameg noted the residential school tragedies are ongoing.
“I think it is pertinent to consider that there are still remains of children to be uncovered and recognized,” she said.
Taillefer said what Barrie legion is doing is in line with Dominion Command's flag protocol. When asked if that decision can be made locally, he said “yes, absolutely.”
Pamela Sweeny, executive director of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Ontario Provincial Command, told BarrieToday by e-mail that its recent discussions with Indigenous leaders reconfirmed support of legion ideals around honouring all veterans.
Dominion Command is raising the flag at the National War Memorial in Ottawa before the Remembrance Day ceremony and then lowering it again to half-mast, she said.
“They have recommended the same of legion branches across Canada. The flag at the national ceremony will remain lowered until sunset and will then be presented to the Silver Cross Mother,” Sweeny said. “It will be up to individual branches to decide if they wish to follow the advice of Dominion Command or keep the flag at half-mast after Remembrance Day.”
All legion branches were also informed Oct. 29 that, after Remembrance Day, "commands and branches may opt to lower their flags once again as part of the continuing expression of recognition of Indigenous communities, but this will be an individual command and branch decision."
BNFC leaders say they are fine, however, with raising the Canadian flag to full-mast as part of honouring veterans on Remembrance Day.
“We understand the need to raise the flags to lower them for how historically we have handled the Canadian flag on Remembrance Day,” said BNFC president Sonny Robbins.
“There were many Indigenous people who fought in the wars," Kinoshameg said. "We consider the ceremony to honour our veterans involves raising and lowering the flag in order to recognize the sacrifice made by all veterans. We honour and respect all those who have served.
“We must also continue to honour and remember the children who died at residential schools until all are found," she added.
Monague has also said he's fine with raising the Canadian flag to full-mast, then lowering it again for Remembrance Day ceremonies.
“I think that’s appropriate. It’s part of the ceremony,” he said. “They should be lowered and then raised again for Remembrance Day.
“That’s part of reconciliation, to acknowledge one another in that way and then to allow each other to continue on in our own ceremonies," Monague added.
Flag protocol for Remembrance Day comes from Legion Dominion Command. It states that outside Canadian flags flown at branches or cenotaphs where a Remembrance Day service will occur will be flown at full-mast until the playing of the first note of the Last Post, and then lowered as per custom. The flags will be raised to the full-mast position on the first note of Rouse and remain so during the playing of the Royal Anthem and march past if applicable. Canadian flags referred to above are to be lowered to half-mast following the Remembrance Day service for the remainder of the day.
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman said the city will follow the Legion Dominion Command’s lead on raising and lowering its flags.
“To recognize Remembrance Day, I've instructed city staff to raise the city hall flags for the morning of Nov. 11, with the flags to be lowered just after 11 a.m., in accordance with the legion protocol for Remembrance Day,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requested the lowering of the national flags after ground-penetrating radar detected what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
It’s estimated more than 4,000 Indigenous children died while being forced to attend the church-run, government-funded institutions, where thousands more suffered physical and sexual abuse, neglect and malnutrition.
The Royal Canadian Legion has indicated it would raise the flag at the National War Memorial on Remembrance Day morning before lowering it again during a scheduled ceremony to honour the dead. The flag will then be presented to this year's Silver Cross Mother, who represents mothers of the soldiers who died in military service.
The legion has recommended branches across Canada hoist the flag before their individual ceremonies, but a spokeswoman says the decision to do so is up to them.
The legion has the power to control what happens to the flag at the National War Memorial that day, because it is in charge of the annual ceremony at the site.
After Nov. 11, it's again up to the government to decide at what height the flag flies at the memorial.
— With files from Canadian Press
