Squamish residents push back on council’s American flag removal decision

In the days following Squamish council’s May 19 decision to remove the American flag from Brennan Park Arena, residents have written to council urging members to reconsider, saying the move was made without adequate community input and sends the wrong message to American neighbours.

The flag has been displayed at the arena to welcome the US under-18 hockey teams Squamish hosts each season. A formal flag policy is currently being developed and is expected to come before council later this year.

Graham Roberge wrote to council on May 24 calling the decision “terribly disrespectful” to Canadian-American relations. He pointed to his family’s regular hockey trips to Washington state, where Canadian flags are displayed alongside American ones in arenas, as evidence of the goodwill that exists between the two countries at a community level.

He also cited a recent Buffalo Sabres game where American fans spontaneously sang the full Canadian anthem after a PA failure, arguing that everyday people on both sides of the border share a genuine friendship that risks being damaged by decisions like this one.

“Removing the flag will have a much longer negative impact on the relationship between us with current and future generations,” Roberge said. “I encourage you to reconsider the removal and encourage friendship over hated toward our neighbours.”

A second letter, sent the following day by Squamish resident Rachel Krumme, took issue specifically with the flag’s planned absence from the Howe Sound Secondary graduation ceremony on June 11. Krumme argued the decision was made without any poll or consultation of the graduating class itself, and that the letter prompting the removal did not represent the students as a whole. She noted the Sea to Sky corridor is home to many dual citizens and American families, and said the decision sends a damaging signal.

“It also echoes a very sad sentiment that Americans are NOT welcome here,” Krumme wrote. “Which I think is a very bad and misguided look for this community collectively.”

Both residents called on council to reverse its decision, with Krumme asking that proper community-wide consultation be conducted before any such motion is passed.

The council’s decision followed a complaint from local parent Lisa Manzini, and the chair of the HSS Grad Committee. Manzini described it as “baffling” to watch her daughter graduate in 2025 beneath an American flag, and asked that they be allowed to remove the flag for the ceremony.

District staff had initially refused the grad committee’s request for a temporary removal, citing the need for a formal flag policy. Council voted on May 19 to remove the flag permanently, with a municipal flag policy expected to come forward before the end of 2026.

Mayor Armand Hurford, and councillor Anderson voted against the motion, with Mayor Hurford saying the decision required more scrutiny than a single council meeting could provide. A formal flag policy involving consultation with the Squamish Nation is still in development.