Hamilton City Manager Marnie Cluckie says staff decided to remove United States flags from City of Hamilton facilities because staff “committed that we would do everything that we could to signal our support of our local economy and our disagreement with the tariffs.”
Cluckie says removing the flags is “a visual symbol of that position and our position to support our local economy and Hamiltonians.”
Cluckie says she takes responsibility for the decision: “I am not deferring that to staff or the senior leadership team.”
She states that removing the American flag from war memorials, including Dieppe Memorial Park, “was an inadvertent removal and it was a mistake.”
“I’ll own that because I have to be clear in my direction. That’s not staff’s fault.”
On March 12, following a meeting of the staff senior leadership team, a directive to remove all US flags was issued.
In the days which followed, veterans organizations initially thought the American flag at the Dieppe Memorial had been stolen. They would learn that the City removed it.
The City resumed flying the US flag at the memorial.
City Council was not informed of the decision, with Council only learning of the staff decision when TPR published a story on March 17.
In the days following March 17, the Hamilton Veterans’ Committee was informed that front-line staff questioned the direction to remove the flag on March 12, but the concerns were dismissed.
American flags are temporarily permitted during sporting and other events when Americans are present.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: April 13, 2025
Last updated: April 13, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
v. 1.1.0 added links to previous stories. (Missed on initial publication)