April 5, 2023 at 3:47 pm
A Chatham-Kent councilor wants to stop raising flags at Chatham’s civic center.
Rhonda Jubenville filed a notice of motion at Monday night’s council meeting that may only fly the government flag on municipal property.
“There was one group that did ask for their flag to be flown and raised,” Jubenville said. “The request was not denied, but it was not answered. I equate non-answer to non-answer.”
Jubenville told CK News Today that the group is a group that “educates, clears up a lot of misinformation, helps those in need and respects the sanctity of life.”
CK News Today reached out to community groups that fit the description and received confirmation on Wednesday that Life in Motion Chatham-Kent had asked to raise the flag at the civic center, but never heard back from the mayor’s office.
A spokesman for the group said it had not yet received a response to its request, nor did the group have any further comment.
Jubenville said she doesn’t want to fly the Canadian, Ontario and Chatham-Kent flags outside civic centers and service centers instead of promoting the flags of community groups and organizations.
“I think we need to say yes or no to everybody,” Jubenville said. “We are living in an era where discrimination against any group is not an option. It is not right to reject an organization because maybe there are people who do not share the group’s agenda or ideology.”
CK News Today has asked the mayor’s office for comment but has not yet received a response to that request.
“It seems like every group has a flag and everybody wants their flag to fly,” Juppenville said. “Maybe, just maybe, we need to get back to basics and fly our government flag.”
Jubenville’s motion will be debated at the April 24 council meeting.