When Melanie Cormier would see the Every Child Matters flag on display at local Catholic schools for Truth and Reconciliation Day, the Mississauga, Ont. mother would feel welcomed.
Cormier is Oji-Cree from Bearskin Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario. Many of her relatives, including her mother, are residential school survivors, and Cormier often visits schools to give presentations about Indigenous history and culture as well as the legacy of residential schools.
“As a parent, I knew that I would feel welcome in there. I knew that it would be a safe place to tell my story and to tell my family’s story about … the intergenerational harms from residential school,” said Cormier, who has two daughters that attend schools run by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB).
But on September 30 this year — the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — those orange flags won’t be on display. The school board updated its flag protocol earlier this year, restricting what flags can be flown at schools.
Changes to the board’s flag policy initially targeted Pride flags. But in the end, the policy changes agreed to by a majority of the board’s elected trustees in January limit permissible flags — both outside and inside schools and the board office — to only the Canadian flag, provincial and territorial flags and the school board flag.
It means flags like the Every Child Matters flag can’t be displayed on September 30. And throughout the year, other flags such as those from nearby Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation also cannot be displayed.
“I think it sends a message to the students,” Cormier said.
“To have this one year and then to have it removed the next year, I feel like it’s erasure.”
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board is one of several boards that has recently been put under supervision by the province due to financial “mismanagement.”
CBC repeatedly contacted the ministry of education for comment about the flag ban, and whether it is now under the purview of the provincially-appointed supervisor. The ministry has not responded to CBC’s questions.
Bruce Campbell, the communications manager for the DPCDSB, confirmed that the updated policy remains in effect, and referred all other questions to the ministry.
Flag contributed to ‘sense of inclusion’: recent graduate
The board’s flag policy first made headlines in June 2024 when a motion to allow alternative flags, such as Pride flags, to be flown outside of schools was voted down by trustees. However the flag policy continued to allow “additional flags” to be displayed within schools “in support of particular observances.”
The pride flag will not be allowed to fly outside Dufferin-Peel Catholic District schools this pride month. The board of trustees voted to ban the flags from outside the school. And as Chris Glover reports, there’s a new push to remove them inside the schools too.
In January this year, the policy was amended again, including removing the part that permitted additional flags within schools. A motion to specifically allow the Every Child Matters flag to be displayed was also voted down.
Tia Simone graduated in June from St. Michael’s Catholic Secondary School in Bolton, Ont., and was part of the board’s Indigenous Education Council, where she advocated for the needs of Indigenous students.
She also attended the board meeting in January where trustees voted on the updated flag protocol.
“Working so hard over the years just to be shut down like that, it was not a good feeling,” Simone said.
She said seeing the Every Child Matters flag on display in previous years was a comfort, and gave “a sense of inclusion.”
Her mother, Charlene Simone, is also a member of the Indigenous Education Council. She said the policy change feels like going “back in time,” and added that if her youngest daughter hadn’t been approaching graduation, she would have considered switching school boards.
Despite that disappointment, Charlene is continuing to serve on the council, citing the “leaps and bounds” that have been made when it comes to programs to support Indigenous students, including language credits.
She hopes in future years the flag policy will be changed, so that a commitment to reconciliation and inclusion is visibly on display.
