Should New West remove the U.S. flag from Queen's Park Arena?

Should New Westminster follow the lead of Ontario cities that are removing the American flag from civic facilities?

That’s the question New Westminster Progressive councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas had hoped council would consider at its March 24 meeting. Instead of going through council’s notice of motion process, they wanted their council colleagues to consider that question under “new business” at Monday’s meeting.

The city’s practice is to have council members submit a notice of motion to council, with that motion then being considered at the following meeting. It’s intended to give council members and the public a heads-up on the motion before it’s discussed by council.

"It struck me as beyond awkward when I recently attended an event at Queen's Park Arena and we all had to pay respect to the U.S. flag while singing O Canada," Fontaine said in a post on social media. "In my opinion, the massive American flag draped on the north end of this civic building should be temporarily removed."

In the same post, Minhas said he hoped a majority of council would agree to adjust council’s meeting rules and pass a motion to have the U.S. flag removed from Queen's Park Arena.

"It may only be a symbolic gesture but given how so many New West and Canadian families will be impacted by Trump's punitive tariffs, I think the time is now to remove the flag,” he said in the post.

In response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats of tariffs and annexation of Canada, several cities in Ontario have removed American flags from their civic buildings.

According to city staff, the Canada, U.S., and B.C. flags that are currently hanging in Queen’s Park Arena are approximately five by three feet.

In a 5-2 vote, council voted not to add the issue to Monday’s agenda.

Coun. Tasha Henderson questioned the time sensitivity nature of the request, saying last-minute items are only added to the agenda if there is time sensitivity.

Fontaine told council that it would be a month before the issue could be debated if it was not added to the March 24 agenda.

“I'm encouraging council to support this so that we can move as quickly as possible, like we did with our procurement discussion around the United States, to be able to look at having the removal of the flag sooner rather than later,” he said.

Fontaine’s explanation didn’t convince the majority of council that the topic was of a time-sensitive nature.

“I'm not saying it's not of interest, I'm just saying I don't understand the time sensitivity,” said Coun. Ruby Campbell.

Mayor Patrick Johnstone said council members can bring items forward at the last minute, but he’d prefer it if council adhered to its practice of considering only time-sensitive items in that way. He expressed concern about setting a precedent.

“What’s to stop 15 things from being added to the next agenda, if we don't draw some lines on what needs to go to a notice of motion process?” he said. “So, I will not support adding this agenda at this moment.”

Fontaine argued that there are numerous cases of the previous council adding items to the agenda at the last minute.

“I can only operate under the procedures bylaw that we have before us right now, which is the procedures bylaw that this council agreed to,” Johnstone said.

Along with Johnstone, Campbell and Henderson, councillors Jaimie McEvoy and Nadine Nakagawa voted against adding the item to the agenda without going through a notice of motion process.

Past actions

In February, council received a staff report about the city’s procurement strategy for Canadian-made products. It stated that 97 per cent (2,699 out of 2,788) of the vendors the city has or currently uses are Canadian.

At that meeting, Fontaine said he was “just a bit curious” how the staff report was initiated. The finance director said it was a last-minute result from council and was consistent with a report about procurement from Canadian vendors that had been put out by the City of Vancouver.

Johnstone said he had requested the report for council information.

“I wasn't aware I could initiate a report for council, but nonetheless I support the report, and I'm curious about the opportunities for myself at some point in the next few weeks to be able to initiate reports in the same manner,” Fontaine said.

At the Feb. 10 meeting, council received the report for information and unanimously supported additional motions and amendments related to the United States.

Council supported Johnstone’s motion directing staff to include the country of origin in their reports about major purchases made by the city and requiring staff to report to council before making significant purchases where staff are only able to source from U.S. companies, including consideration if a purchase could be deferred or if an alternative can be identified.

Council supported Fontaine’s amendment to have council direct staff not to undertake any non-essential work-related travel to the United States until further notice. (This does not apply to staff, such as firefighters, who may require certain certifications that are only available in the United States.)