Markham officials under fire over Chinese flag raising
Hoisting of the flag sparks protest, call for end to practice and demand for public apology
Oct 31, 2019 by Heidi Riedner, Markham Economist & Sun
The hoisting of the flag of the People’s Republic of China in Markham has raised some serious questions.
The city, its mayor and some of its councillors are under fire from some area residents who say a recent flag raising celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China under Chinese Communist Party leadership was simply wrong on a number of fronts.
That has sparked a call for an end to the practice of foreign flag raisings at the Civic Centre, a public apology from Mayor Frank Scarpitti and an accounting of public dollars in support of a third-party event after Markham security forces and York Regional Police had to be called in to deal with the ensuing protest.
“We need to stop this practice and it needs to stop now,” Annette Cacorovski said, adding no foreign flags should be raised at any time, but “particularly at this volatile and hostile time.”
Cacorovski is referring to the current state of relations between Canada and China, which have soured since the December arrest of Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on an extradition request by the United States.
China then arrested Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and continues to detain them to this day, on vague charges related to national security.
The Chinese government also toughened the sentence of a Canadian held on drug charges — changing a 15-year prison sentence to a death sentence — and blocked Canadian canola exports to China.
Recent tensions in Hong Kong have sparked protests on Canadian soil, including in Markham.
Peggy Leung — who is of Hong Kong descent and who organized protests at Queen’s Park and Toronto’s city hall against what she considers gross human rights violations — said the Markham event raises questions about inclusivity, diversity and a society reflective of the democratic values Canadians hold dear.
“This was not a celebration of Chinese culture; this was support for the Chinese flag and the state it represents,” she said. “The city may have been doing it since 2014 and there may have never been an issue before, but there’s never been hostages before, nor terrible tensions to this extent before.”
She questions why the Markham event went ahead when scheduled flag raisings planned for the same weekend in Richmond Hill and Vaughan were cancelled, despite pleas from residents to the contrary and advance warning protests were being planned.
Residents also feel they were duped by the city, after the event went ahead as scheduled despite emails stating it had been cancelled and flyers that the city said erroneously stated financial support via Celebrate Markham.
All three flag raisings were being conducted by the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham (FCCM) — the same group that also organizes and runs the “Taste of Asia” event each year in Markham.While Toronto Mayor John Tory became one of the first Canadian mayors outside of Vancouver to weigh in on the conversation about China when he boycotted the ceremonial raising of the Chinese flag in his city, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, as well as councillors Jack Heath and Amanda Colucci, attended the FCCM event in Markham.
“It’s not only highly inappropriate with two Canadians still being held, but also could be considered tacit endorsement of China and its policies,” said Martin Leung. “That’s the major reason we are against it and we think it was the wrong message for our politicians to send.”
Markham Council and staff have received numerous concerns about the City’s flag raising policy, which can be reviewed here. In response to these concerns Council has requested staff to bring forward the flag raising policy for discussion and review at a future Council meeting.
