Steps taken last year to draw greater public attention to the cenotaph in Rockwood have received an official endorsement from the federal government.
Last fall Guelph-Eramosa council decided to purchase and install three historic military flags at the cenotaph – the Red Ensign, the Royal Union Flag, and the Canadian Forces Ensign.
And recently the township received a letter from Jason Kenney, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, on behalf of the federal government, thanking the township for its efforts.
“I strongly encourage veterans’ organizations and communities across Canada to adopt a proactive, generous, and inclusive approach to the display of those flags under which our soldiers, sailors, and airmen served in the Great War and the Second World War in particular,” Kenney said in his letter.
“I believe that the display of the Canadian Red Ensign and the Royal Union Flag can only add to our sense of history and pride as Canadians of whatever ethnic origin.”
But as Mayor Chris White pointed out, two local residents were opposed to the flags for some reason.
Former mayor Clint Martin and former councillor Teressa Gibson-Smye objected to the move despite the township receiving permission from three area Legions, the Dominion Command office of the Royal Canadian Legion, the Department of National Defence, and the Department of Canadian Heritage.
“It was pretty universally supported, but there was a little controversy around it, which kind of detracted from what we were trying to do,” White said.
He explained the township decided to add the flags to recognize the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The township was also planning a Remembrance Day ceremony for local school children and just wanted to draw more attention to the cenotaph, White said of the township’s motivation.
Kenney even had a message in his letter for those who objected to the addition of the flags.
“To oppose their display would seem to me to represent an effort to erase our history as Canadians,” he said. “There is no objection in Canadian protocol to the display of historical flags in appropriate settings, provided the National Flag is given due precedence.”
In Rockwood, the Canadian flag is indeed given precedence over the three new additions.
White said he could not understand why anyone would oppose – and try to stop – something that would promote Canadian history. As such, he was very pleased with Kenney’s letter.
“To have a federal cabinet minister personally write a letter to the township shows the government must have some real interest in this issue,” White said.
The mayor stressed that the township had not touched the cenotaph itself, despite past rumours in the community to the contrary. And he noted that the Red Ensign was also raised in a ceremony last year at the Vimy Ridge memorial.
“It was just a nice way to bring some more attention to the cenotaph,” he said of the local efforts. “I would hope people would embrace this across the country.”
