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After years of displaying the American flag at the arena inside the West Lincoln Community Centre, the local council has voted to take it down. West Lincoln Township Council ratified a previous committee decision Monday night that would see the United States flag removed from “township owned facilities,” to be rehung “when required.”
Despite the broad language in the motion, discussion among councillors indicated it was inspired by a flag that has been hanging in the arena for years.
“The American flag is permanently fixed in our community centre… 365 days of the year,” said Smithville councillor William Reilly at the township’s corporate services committee meeting on Feb. 18, when he brought forward the motion. “We don’t even have an Ontario flag.”
The decision comes as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes forward with a plan to charge a 25 per cent tariff on most imports from Canada starting next week. Speaking to reporters on Monday at a White House news conference with the French president, Trump said work to implement those tariffs is “moving along very rapidly.”
“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule. This is an abuse that took place for many, many years. The tariffs will go forward, yes, and we’re going to make up a lot of territory,” Trump said.
Coun. Reilly made it clear that he wasn’t proposing a ban on the U.S. flag, which would still be flown to respect visiting U.S. teams, but said it doesn’t belong in a permanent place on the wall.
“Our neighbours from the south aren’t necessarily respecting us,” he added.
The motion narrowly passed the committee stage in a 4-to-3 vote, but was ratified at Monday’s council meeting along with the rest of the committee’s report. It was not clear when the flag would be taken down. CBC Hamilton tried to reach Reilly for comment Tuesday but was unsuccessful before our deadline.
Ward 1 Coun. Jason Trombetta, who voted in favour, said he has heard about other arenas where American flags were being vandalized.
“We know other buildings are having issues at the moment [such as] people throwing gum or a cup of coffee,” he said in the committee meeting, noting his vote was in the aim of ensuring safety.
We need to send a message that ‘Canadians will fight back,’ Minister Joly says
Some council members expressed concern that the flag’s removal could offend Americans who live in the area, or Canadians with American relatives. Gainsborough Coun. Joann Chechalk worried that it could instill anti-American sentiment in the youth athletes who use the arena.
“I would not want to see that the children, without understanding, did no longer like the other children across a line that doesn’t exist,” she said. “This isn’t a political foray, this is our arena and our kids. This is our future.”
Mayor Cheryl Ganann said she worried the motion could draw negative attention.
“If we quietly do something with our flag, that’s one thing, but I don’t want to see it turn into a controversy,” she said.
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Speaking to reporters from London after meeting with British officials, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada will hit back at the U.S. if Trump moves ahead with the tariffs.
She said the federal government crafted a plan to slap retaliatory tariffs on up to $155 billion worth of American goods when Trump launched the first salvo in this trade war, and Ottawa can bring that list back if he makes good on his threat.
“We need to stand strong and send a clear message that Canadians will fight back,” Joly said.
Source: cbc
