Politician says council shouldn't be 'human billboard for social justice'

A returning request for National Breastfeeding Week to be recognized across northern Simcoe County turned into a statement from Tiny Township Coun. Dave Brunelle on why flag raisings and T-shirts should be disallowed in municipal capacity, including for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The letter from the North Simcoe Breastfeeding Coalition reached out to Tiny council as well as Penetanguishene during recent council meetings, asking that the week of Oct. 1-7 be recognized as National Breastfeeding Week.

It was a request which had been granted in 2018 and 2019 throughout local municipalities, as provided by photos of various councils holding the flag in front of municipal offices of Tay Township, Tiny Township, Midland and Penetanguishene.

In Penetanguishene, the request was approved and a 2024 proclamation was made.

However, the recent Tiny council meeting was a different affair.

Council and attending staff wore orange for National Truth and Reconciliation Day and Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30, to recognize and commemorate those affected by the residential school system across Canada, established in 2021.

All except for Coun. Dave Brunelle, who wore a white jacket over a dark shirt.

“Obviously, I'm not wearing a T-shirt tonight that was asked for myself to wear and the rest of the people in the council chambers here,” said Brunelle as he retrieved a prepared statement on flag raising and T-shirts.

“I would be in favour of a proclamation (for National Breastfeeding Week), but I'll read the statement — it'll be pretty obvious where I stand on it.”

Brunelle’s statement noted the township’s flag-raising request policy initiated in 2019 for events, organizations or community groups of significance, but “cautioned the slippery slope of endorsing one movement or promoting one set of beliefs and ideologies over another.”

The request policy requires successful flag-raising and proclamation requests within five previous years to be forwarded to the mayor or clerk for approval, while others be placed on the agenda for consideration.

Brunelle continued to read that neutrality “must be adhered to and upheld by elected officials,” with attention to any one group being “divisive and unlawful” — flags and T-shirts in council meetings created confusion, counter-productivity, conflict and controversy.

The statement added that the federal, provincial and municipal flags represented inclusivity, but a mandate of council was not to be “a human billboard for social justice.”

Following the statement, Brunelle stated his opposition to the request for National Breastfeeding Week.

“We can do a proclamation, we can say it in our announcements at the beginning of the meeting, but I'm not in favour of raising the flag,” said Brunelle.

As chair of the committee of the whole meeting, Brunelle asked other council members for their vote for or against the request; the vote was split and the request defeated, as Coun. Steffen Walma was absent during the discussion.

Mayor Dave Evans said he would be in favour of the request and considered it “a worthy cause,” but raised a previous discussion from May 2023 when he and Brunelle opposed a flag-raising request for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, with similar reasons.

“I was speaking with some peers in Simcoe County,” said Evans, “and some of them have said ‘we won't do any flag raising, we’ll just have the regular three flags that are the requirement and that’s it’. Innisfil is one that got out of that process.”

The National Breastfeeding Week flag-raising and proclamation request letter, including photos of north Simcoe municipalities from 2018 and 2019, can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.