Charlottetown’s city hall is on the corner of Kent and Queen streets. There are three flag poles beside the building, which will soon have a policy for “protocol events” such as flag raisings. Photo by Logan MacLean /The GuardianArticle contentEvery year, Charlottetown embraces new cultures and celebrates holidays, dignitaries and the changing world. But until now, there has been no official policy for what are known as protocol events, such as flag raisings, military marches or royal visits.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThat is set to change with a new protocol policy that sets out the kind of protocol events the city can or cannot support.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentWithout such a policy, staff are left making case-by-case decisions about outside requests with no real grounds for refusing them.Article contentThis poses a risk to the city’s reputation, director of corporate services Michael Ruus told the July 25 strategic priorities committee.Article contentDoug Dumais, Charlottetown’s culture and economic co-ordinator, said he researched similar policies across Canadian cities, ranging in size from Colchester, N.S., to Toronto. All of them had nearly identical language about prohibited and permissible events, he said.Article content“So this is based on a lot of research and a lot of work to make sure it aligns with best practices to make sure that we are able to offer the flag to community groups that align and that we have some rationale and reasoning for requests that might be denied.”Article contentCity’s reputationArticle contentCoun. Justin Muttart, who chairs the committee, asked whether some examples of requests fall under protocol events, such as flag lowering or concerts at city parks.Article contentArticle contentFlag lowering, such as a requirement to lower to half mast in the event of the King’s death, would still require a separate procedure, and the city informally follows what the federal government does until then, Dumais said.Article contentConcerts in parks are not considered protocol events, though, and these wouldn’t be part of the policy, Dumais said.Article contentDeputy Mayor Alanna Jankov asked how it would be decided what would be appropriate under the policy, giving the example of a flag-raising request from the Kidney Foundation.Article content“Those requests come in all the time, so how do you decide what is proper and what isn’t?”Article contentDumais said at the moment, the city would allow that flag because it is important to the community.Article content“This gives us some policy backing to be able to respond to these requests,” he said. “But if other groups that didn’t align with the city’s values or role reached out, we wouldn’t necessarily have any reason to deny, and that’s a situation that could pose a risk to the city’s reputation.”
New policy will clarify Charlottetown’s rules for flags, dignitary events
