Pro-life group hopes to raise their flag next year

The president of the Alliance for Life’s Saskatoon chapter says the group will “try again next year” with another request to raise a pro-life flag at city hall.

On Monday, city council voted 8-3 against allowing a proclamation of Respect for Life week Jan. 21 to Jan. 28, 2019, as well as an accompanying flag raising requested by a local chapter of the anti-abortion group. Chapter president Carole Tokaruk sent two letters seeking the proclamation and mentioned the possibility of a flag raising in the first of her requests.

On Wednesday Tokaruk said she was disappointed but “kind of expecting it at the same time because we find that a lot of people are very negative towards the prolife groups.”

She said the group resolved to try again, adding, “they’re not going to stop us.”

City council has asked for a review of its proclamations policy. The standard practice has been to approve several requests on a council agenda as a whole package. On Monday, Tokaruk’s request was voted on separately from the other proclamation requests.

Tokaruk noted that she mentioned a “possible flag raising” in her first request because the group didn’t have a flag at the time she wrote to council in June. A possible flag raising was not included in the second request, which was hand-written and addressed to Mayor Charlie Clark.

After the initial request, council voted 6-2 in favour of asking for more information.

The group still does not have a flag.

Tokaruk said they may get one made before requesting a proclamation and flag-raising ceremony next year, but they’re not sure yet what image would be on it.

Tokaruk said the proclamation request was a learning experience and she will ask to speak to council next time she makes a request.

“We thought if they had wanted to talk to us, they would have called us to city hall to ask us some questions, but nothing happened,” she said.

In Prince Albert, a local anti-abortion group responded differently

A lot of people are very negative towards the pro-life groups.

to a similar decision by city officials. The Prince Albert Right to Life Association (PARLA) sought an injunction after the city decided to defer an application to raise an anti-abortion flag showing a cartoon-like fetus named “Umbert the Unborn.”

In documents filed in Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench in 2017 in response to the injunction application, the City of Prince Albert said it reviewed “numerous” complaints about the image on the flag, which had been flown since 2007.

Mayor Greg Dionne told the pro-life group the request would be compliant with the city’s policy if “they used a flag more broadly associated with their cause.” The city’s flag raising policy had been updated in 2016.

According to court documents, on two occasions in early April and early May 2017 Dionne asked the group to consider flying a new flag, but the group did not respond. The city put the flag raising request on hold, saying the flag “was not consistent with any nationally or provincially approved flag.”

Prince Albert’s 2016 flag policy states that “flags of organizations which may be considered controversial, contentious or divisive within the community shall not be flown.”

PARLA is seeking a judicial review of the city’s decision and an order allowing it to fly the flag on the city’s courtesy flagpole.