Workers at Confederation Building took down a Christian flag Wednesday morning which had been raised to mark Easter week. Critics said that the flag was associated with intolerant messages towards the LGBTQ community.
But it’s by no means clear whether the flag will go back up in a couple days.
On Wednesday morning, realtor John Riche posted a photo of two workers removing the white flag with a red cross, which supporters say is meant to represent religious freedom, but opponents say is tied to intolerance against LGBTQ groups.
Tory MHA Steve Kent, who has been a vocal critic of the government’s decision to fly the flag for Easter week, also took to Twitter to report that it was taken down.
“Premier Ball never should have created this mess,” Kent said.
A statement from the premier’s office said that the flag came down because of the terrorism in Belgium.
“The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador expresses its heartfelt sympathies to the people of Belgium,” the statement said.
“Out of respect, we have decided to lower the Canadian, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Union Jack flags at the Confederation Building. This is an act of unity to demonstrate that acts of violence anywhere in the world cannot be tolerated. We have similarly lowered these flags in response to the November 2015 tragedy in Paris. The Canadian Flag at the Peace Tower has been lowered to half-mast and will remain lowered during Belgium’s period of mourning. The flags at Confederation Building will remain lowered until sunrise on March 27. Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia have already lowered their flags to half-mast.
“When Government’s official flags are lowered, any flag being flown on provincial buildings as a courtesy are removed.”
It is not clear how long the flags will be at half-mast for Belgium, or whether the Christian flag will be raised again afterwards.
The premier’s office statement, noted that municipalities also fly the flag.
“Our Government operates on a policy of tolerance and believes we must be respectful to all groups, regardless of their religious, racial, sexual or gender identities. This flag was raised by various municipalities, to acknowledge Holy Week.”
IN a CBC radio interview this morning, Ball was asked about the issue, and did not condemn the flag or any of the intolerant messages that some people say are associated with it.
Ball has said in future, he’d like to see all three political parties and the House of Assembly speaker get involved with decisions on what flags from non-governmental interest groups should be flown on the courtesy pole.
Kent has said that there was a policy in place last year that specified that flags flown at the Confederation Building courtesy pole have to be inclusive, inoffensive and tolerant, and for that reason, the then-Tory government declined to raise the Christian flag.
The premier’s office said differently.
“Regarding the use of the Courtesy Pole at Confederation Building, there is no clear policy. We will work with all MHAs to develop a clear policy around the use of the Courtesy Flagpole.”
