Canadian flag low priority at General Brock school

Every taxpayer-funded school should proudly fly the Canadian flag, even if it’s on a rusty flagpole.

But apparently not at General Brock Public School, on Chestnut Cr., where the red-and-white Maple Leaf hasn’t topped the flagpole since last winter, despite complaints from a local resident.

Among the things taught in school is civic pride and allegiance to our country and flag, which occupies a prominent place in classrooms and elsewhere in educational facilities.

It’s a place where kids learn to honour the flag and associate it with patriotism and an understanding that we’re in this together and that the whole is greater than the sum of Canada’s parts.

It’s hard to find a school in Toronto that doesn’t have a national flag, except at the school named after Sir Isaac Brock, one of the first heroes of Upper Canada after his military conquests in the early 1800s.

Jonathan Leitch emailed us about the deplorable condition of the school’s flagpole, which he describes as “empty and neglected.”

It’s been without a flag since February, he said, adding that he went into the school and complained, but was told a flag couldn’t be flown because of a broken “box” on the pole.

“In May and June of this year, I approached the school’s office to find out why there was no flag,” Leitch said. “They said the box was broken, and it was not a priority with TDSB to have it replaced and the pole cleaned up.

“On Sept. 9, I again approached the staff, and they told me the same thing. I reminded them that this is our country, our children, and this is a polling station for all elections in this area.

“It is embarrassing to see this kind of neglect at our local school.”

We went there and found a thoroughly rusty flagpole, with peeling paint and padlocked box on it. The padlock was open, so we were able to look inside the box and see a spool for the rope used to raise and lower the flag.

It didn’t look to us like there is any reason why a flag couldn’t be hoisted. Status: Ryan Bird, a spokesmann for the Toronto District School Board, said they’re investigating and will try to have a new flag up ASAP. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer, call us at 416-869-4823 or email jlakey@thestar.ca . To read our blog, go to thestar.com/news/the_fixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.