B.C. couple refuse to remove Canadian flag from balcony after strata council demand

'Jack and I refused to take it down,' said Sechelt's Pat Matthews. 'Our argument is, 'Why can't we display the Canadian flag?' with all the rhetoric with Donald Trump and the 51st state and all that garbage'

For over a year, Sechelt residents Jack and Patricia Matthews have hung a Canadian flag outside their condo balcony. They, like many Canadians, wanted to show off their pride in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s increased use of tariffs on Canadian imports and threats against Canadian sovereignty, including rhetoric about turning Canada into a 51st state. This week, the couple was annoyed to receive an email from their building property manager saying he had received a complaint about their 1.2-metre by 0.9-metre flag and asking them to take it down.

The email told the Matthews that their flag potentially violates a strata bylaw about hanging or displaying laundry, washing, clothing, bedding or other articles from windows, balconies or other parts of the building that are visible from the outside. It also cited another strata bylaw that spells out rules for hanging seasonal or festive decorations only within a certain number of days before and after an event. “If you have not yet removed the flag, I ask that you please do so,” the letter states.

“Jack and I refused to take it down,” said Pat Matthews. “Our argument is, ‘Why can’t we display the Canadian flag?’ with all the rhetoric with Donald Trump and the 51st state and all that garbage.” Another resident in their building took down their Canadian flag after receiving a similar email, said the couple, but the Matthews plan to keep theirs in place.

After they posted a copy of the email from the building manager on a hallway cork board, they received plenty of support from other residents, said Jack Matthews. The email was signed by Adam Major, a managing broker and building manager with Holywell Properties. Postmedia reached out to Major on Tuesday via his office phone number and email, but did not hear back by deadline.

“If you have any patriotism, this is a sensitive issue,” said Jack Matthews. He said he generally supports council’s strict approach with enforcing the bylaws. “I helped write some of them,” he said.

“But this is a bit unpatriotic.” He said he could understand if they had hung a flag with more overt political overtones that could be considered divisive, such as the flag of Israel or Ukraine. “But it’s the Canadian flag!”

The couple have lived on the Sunshine Coast for over 50 years and in the apartment building for more than a decade. They are originally from England and received their Canadian citizenship a few years after moving to B.C. “I phoned (the property manager) and told him I was extremely disappointed,” said Jack Matthews.

“We’ve got other things in the world to worry about right now than to be bombarding me and residents with disputes about hanging the Canadian flag.” The National Flag of Canada Act, a federal law that was enacted in 2012, actually encourages Canadians to “proudly display the National Flag of Canada in accordance with flag protocol.” It goes on to say: “Every person who is in control of an apartment building, a condominium building or building in divided co-ownership or another multiple-residence building or a gated community, is encouraged to allow the National Flag of Canada to be displayed in accordance with flag protocol.”

Strata bylaws are unenforceable if they contradict other legislation, but the National Flag of Canada Act “is not a law exactly,” Vancouver lawyer Alex Chang said Tuesday. “It’s more a polite suggestion or statement of encouragement from parliament,” Chang said. He said different strata councils “have different standards for maintaining commonality and consistency or appearance” of a building.

In a 2019 blog post on the same topic, Chang wrote it is “not atypical to see bylaws prohibiting or restricting decorations that are visible outside the building or preventing owners from installing flag poles.” While strata rules cannot be applied to decorations inside a strata lot, restrictions can be imposed on the display of flags or decorations on common property, he wrote, and many balconies and decks are limited common property.