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.”

"We want to promote awareness and encourage dialogue so we can make an informed decision on how are we going to proceed with China," he added. "We have been talking about 'engaging' China for 30 or 40 years now. Sure, it’s great to do trade with China; let's raise their flag and throw them a birthday party, but people have to understand there may be a cost to that. Is this the road we want to go down? Because of trade, because of money, we don’t care about human rights. We need to have this type of dialogue to see if this is what we want.

Scarpitti defended his attendance at the event, saying as mayor, he attends many flag raisings when his schedule permits to show community support and to celebrate the rich diversity for which Markham is known.

While city hall has a courtesy flag pole and a protocol for who can use it, the City of Markham does not endorse those who do.

“Any cancellations and changes to scheduling was at the direction of FCCM,” Scarpitti said, adding the city permits special flag raisings to raise public awareness of multicultural events, fundraising drives and historical commemorations.

“I believe in building bridges and creating an inclusive community,” he added. “We recognize the positive social, cultural and economic contributions of residents who hail from all over the world.”

Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor Don Hamilton acknowledged the issue is a highly charged one that has a lot of Markham residents upset, but added it is worth a discussion moving forward.

In response to a flood of complaints, Hamilton brought the matter forward to general committee, asking for a report back from staff regarding the flag raising policy, with a view to having a discussion on whether or not the city should be allowing the raising of any flags of foreign nations.

While some councillors said the request was divisive, Hamilton said he believes the flag raising only deepened an existing divide.

"I have received many rational, well-written and thoughtful emails on the subject. The bulk of them do not support the city continuing its practise of raising foreign flags."

The issue is expected to come to council within the next month.



