'Rag' of a flag angers deputy reeve
Posted Feb 26, 2010 By John Nelson
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Tweet ThisEMC News At least one North Dundas Township councillor is seeing red over the condition of the Canada flag at the Hill 70 memorial in Mountain.
Deputy Reeve Estella Rose told council, during their Feb. 16 meeting, that she visited the site the previous weekend and was not pleased with what she saw.
"I was devastated to see that rag still hanging on that flagpole," she said, referring to the tattered maple leaf emblem. "It's discoloured. It's just a rag."
The deputy reeve said that flying no flag would be preferable to a tattered banner.
Ms. Rose was at the Hill 70 memorial to record footage for a DVD recognizing last year's the rededication of the monument.
Coun. Eric Duncan first expressed his concerns during council's first meeting after the rededication ceremony, calling the situation an embarrassment to the township. His concerns extended beyond the condition of the flag.
"The flag was ripped, the flowerbed in rough shape," he said then, as he pointed to a photo contained on a commemorative plaque of the event.
Ms. Rose said she was shocked that township staff had not taken action to replace the flag but Coun. Duncan defended township staff, adding that the flag had been replaced.
"It's a different flag," he told council. "It was fixed."
Coun. Duncan explained that he had personally attempted to replace the flag in December but found that a new banner was already flying.
He speculated that harsh weather conditions at the site could be causing excessive wear and tear on the flag. Ms. Rose suggested that it be taken down during the winter months.
Mountain Memorial Park commemorates the Aug. 15, 1917 Battle of Hill 70 in which Canadian troops, including the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, were victorious. The hill was defended with machine gun nests.
More than 8,600 Canadians were killed, wounded, or went missing in the battle. Four Victoria Crosses were awarded, the British Empire's highest military award for bravery.
Mountain Memorial Park was officially opened in 1925 after Mountain residents began their efforts to mark the battle and the local men who fought in it in 1922. The memorial itself features a grassy mound with the letters Hill 70 in the turf, a memorial stone and a First World War vintage German machine gun.
North Dundas Mayor Alvin Runnalls said his concerns extended beyond the memorial itself to the park in general, noting recent acts of vandalism at the site.
"That really disturbs me," he said. "This is a real concern. The park is hidden away. It's out of sight."
Township chief administrative officer Howard Smith said solutions were being investigated but had no immediate fix for the problem.
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