THUNDER BAY — The Lakehead District Public School Board will take no action, at least for now, on a proposal to fly the Fort William First Nation flag at its 30 school locations.
The idea came from the board's Aboriginal Education Advisory Committee, which had passed a resolution and sent the proposal to the board for consideration.
A spokesperson explained the rationale was that, for Indigenous students, the flag would serve as "a visual representation of the traditional territory" of the Ojibway people of the Fort William First Nation.
During a recent board meeting, trustees considered the request as a discussion item only. No motion was presented for a vote.
In an interview Monday, Director of Education Ian MacRae said that raising the flag at the board's elementary schools, high schools and adult education centre "is problematic logistically, because of the need for its own flag pole. We'd have to put flag poles up at every site."
MacRae said the estimated expense would be $5,000 for each flag pole, which he described as "a significant cost."
He noted that the provincial Education Act requires that the national flag be flown outside schools, while providing for the display of the national flag and the Ontario flag inside buildings.
Board policy, however also allows for the display of the First Nation's flag and other flags at special school events at the discretion of the principal, something which he said is done "all the time now."
"That is how we have dealt with it in the past, and that is in the board policy...The feeling is, at this stage, that we would stick with the mandate of the Education Act," MacRae said.
He said it's likely the issue will be carried forward for consideration by trustees after the election in October.
The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board flies no flags outside its buildings other than the national flag, and has received no request to fly the Fort William First Nation flag.
A spokesperson told Tbnewswatch that the First Nation's flag will fly outside the new St. Ann School satellite kindergarten site when it opens in the community in the fall.
