OLDS — At least one more flag could one day be flying outside the Town of Olds administration office in addition to the three currently there.
Currently, the three flags flying there are the Canadian, provincial and Town of Olds flags.
However, town council is considering adding at least one more: a Treaty 7 flag. Mayor Judy Dahl has suggested a Metis flag could be flown there too.
The matter came up during the most recent Olds town council meeting as council dealt with a letter from Debbie Collins on behalf of Mountain View Moccasin House Society.
In that letter, Collins thanked Dahl for her attendance and “kind words” during a National Indigenous Day event held in Centennial Park in June.
She also expressed appreciation for all the assistance provided by town staff.
“I wanted to let you know that we purchased a Treaty 7 Flag to fly over the event and we would like to gift that flag to the Town of Olds, to use for your purposes,” Collins wrote.
“We trust you and the council will find it useful, and that it will fly over many events in the future.”
During discussion in council, Coun. Darren Wilson asked if the municipality will be flying the Treaty 7 flag soon.
Dahl wondered if the Town of Olds had received a Metis flag as well.
Community services director Doug Wagstaff noted that the Town of Olds' welcoming and inclusive communities strategy and action plan gave council “the flexibility” to consider questions like that during its (four-year) term.
He also pointed out that if council wants more flags flown outside of the municipality's administration office, more flag poles will have to be obtained.
“Yes, it would become a budget discussion for us to do that,” Dahl said.
She called on chief administrative officer Brent Williams to “just keep this on our plate, so we could bring this back at the appropriate time.”
Council voted to accept Collins’ letter as information.
