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An 11th-hour pitch to change city policy and fly the Pride Flag over City Hall during pride week didn't get very far Monday.
Councillor Loyal Wooldridge put forward the idea during this morning's council meeting, but the majority of council spoke against it.
The current flag policy at the City of Kelowna is to fly only the civic flag, the provincial flag and the Maple Leaf.
The policy was adopted back in 2012 amid controversy over an application to fly a "Right to Life" flag on the city's courtesy flagpole.
"Not when we have a deadline at our backs," argued Councillor Luke Stack in response to the suggestion.
Stack objected to how the idea was brought forward with little time or preparation for council ahead of pride week.
"This is the worst way to make a decision," he said. "So those of you who are on the fence: I would encourage you to not willy-nilly just change our flag policy without a much more thorough discussion."
Councillor Charlie Hodge spoke in support of Wooldridge's original motion, but it never made it to a vote.
Instead Mayor Basran agreed with the members of council who felt there could be other ways to express support for inclusivity. He called for a motion to direct staff to "bring forward a report on how we can advance councils priority on inclusivity".
Wooldridge agreed to put that motion forward instead and it passed unanimously.
Councillor Loyal Wooldridge's motion to amend policy and raise the Pride Flag didn't fly, but he's pleased with Council's alternative to meet with marginalized groups and seek other ways improve inclusivity. pic.twitter.com/7NiBcRJNxv
— KelownaNow.com (@KelownaNow) June 17, 2019
After the morning meeting, he expressed optimism that the motion could produce something more important than the raising of a flag.
"It's really reaching out to organizations like the Kelowna Pride Society to find out what really matters to them," he said.
And he was happy that the motion allows the city to reach out to other marginalized groups as well.
"So stepping back and taking the time to do this planning and working with those that know best are going to have the most sustainable results," Wooldridge added.
Kelowna Pride Society Co-President Blake Edwards is pleased the City of Kelowna is moving to improve consultation on inclusivity, but disappointed that a motion to raise the Pride Flag wasn't passed today. pic.twitter.com/aK8bCZVUWi
— KelownaNow.com (@KelownaNow) June 17, 2019
"It's unfortunate that we can't have something for our pride event," said a somewhat disappointed Pride co-president Blake Edwards.
But he was pleased with the motion anyway.
"The step in the right direction," he said, "is to promote the greater idea of inclusivity."
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