Regina city council set to discuss controversial flag-raising protocol

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The only flags that should fly in Regina City Hall’s courtyard are those of Canada, Saskatchewan, the City of Regina, Treaty 4, the Metis Nation and the Union Jack, recommends a report from city administration.

City councillors will consider the report when they meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss a motion to amend existing flag-flying protocols.

If approved, raising the colours of other nations on the flagpole in front of city hall would no longer be allowed, except when a dignitary or diplomat is visiting Regina, according to the report from the office of city clerk Jim Nicol. Flags representing events, non-profit groups or local charities would be allowable exceptions.

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The report, first presented in September, dates back to the previous council and follows months of tension after the city flew Israel’s flag last spring.

The original motion goes back even further to June, drafted by Coun. Shanon Zachidniak (Ward 8) and former councillor Cheryl Stadnichuk, who represented Ward 1 from 2020 until 2024. The two councillors sought to amend the flag policy to deny any requests to fly flags of countries that have been investigated for violating international genocide laws.

The motion came after a request was granted under current protocols to fly the flag of Israel in honour of its national independence day. Both councillors said many residents contacted them and were upset that the city would do so amid a violent conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which was still active at that time.

The previous city council referred the motion last summer by asking the city clerk’s office for recommendations. It was tabled again multiple times in the fall as council worked through a backlog of decision items before the municipal election on Nov. 13.

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“We are a multicultural city,” Nicol said in November, referring to the final report’s contents. “I tried to find what I thought was an appropriate balance.”

While the policy changes were in limbo, a request last fall to fly the Palestine flag on the anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence was initially granted by the city clerk’s office. However, it was later overruled by outgoing mayor Sandra Masters, which prompted a rally outside city hall.

This is the first time this city council will consider the report’s recommendations.

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