- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 430
I just found this on the CBC news site. This is a real shame.
Reproduced in accordance with the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act
Reproduced in accordance with the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act
Ex-serviceman risks eviction by flying Canadian flag on balcony
Eastern Ontario housing authority wants flag removed
Last Updated: Monday, July 14, 2008 | 4:12 PM ET Comments57Recommend84CBC News
Mark Murray flies this flag in support of troops and their families. (CBC)An ex-serviceman refuses to take down the Canadian flag on his balcony in a subsidized housing unit in Cardinal, Ont., even though the local housing authority is threatening to evict him.
Mark Murray, 53, served with the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Canadian Airborne Regiment in the 1970s and 1980s.
He lives in the Seaway Apartments, which are operated by the community housing authority in United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.
He said Friday he was given the flag by his local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion last year, and he has flown it ever since.
Now he has received more encouragement not to take down the flag.
"I got a phone call here from Sean Wilson. He's the brother of Mark Wilson who was killed in action in Kandahar on Oct. 7, 2006, and he sent me a message here asking me not to take down my flag — to leave it up.
"I don't have the heart to take it down … I can't do it now," he said.
Last Thursday, an official from the community housing department told him the flag had to come down or he would be sent an "N-5" letter, the first step in the process leading to eviction.
He was told the flag violates a rule requiring all subsidized properties to have a uniform appearance.
"I was going to negotiate with them, and ask for a flagpole in the back. But this has taken on a new meaning now, to the families, and to the troops," Murray said.
The director of community and social services, Dorothy Theobald, told CBC News Monday that her department is trying to work with Murray, but, she said, the flag can't stay. [/qutoe]