According to Arnold McLean, the city’s chief of protocol, his office received the request from the Russian Embassy on February 23, the day before Russian troops invaded Ukraine. The embassy asked the city to “raise its flag and illuminate the Cultural Heritage Building in recognition of Russia Day on June 12, 2022,” according to the statement. Russia Day commemorates the founding of the Russian Federation on June 12, 1990. The national holiday was first celebrated in 1992. The Ukrainian flag has been flying outside Ottawa City Hall since February 24 in solidarity. (Patrick Doyle / Reuters)
Surprised mayor request
On February 24, as a result of the invasion, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson ordered the Ukrainian flag to be flown at City Hall “indefinitely” and urged mayors of other G7 capitals to do the same. Watson also asked the protocol office to reject the Russian embassy’s request. It just shows the character of the Russian state.- Borys Gengalo, Ukrainian-Canadian Congress Ottawa “[It’s] it is outrageous that they would even think to ask for it, and I told them under no circumstances will we raise your flag until you leave Ukraine, and we have the Ukrainian flag still waving and will remain in our square until the Russians leave the country, “Watson said Friday. “I was surprised they came and asked for it,” he said. “You would think they would put two and two together that we would not wave their flag at our property.” In early March, Watson teamed up with Andrii Bukvych, commissioned at the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa, to place blue and yellow signs reading “Free-Libre Ukraine” on Charlotte Street, directly opposite the Russian Embassy. At the time, Watson called the gesture “a small symbol of contempt.” A pro-Ukrainian supporter waves the country’s flag outside the Russian embassy in Ottawa on February 24. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press)
“They are not interested in public opinion”
According to Ottawa’s official flag-raising policy, the city “will carry the flag of any nation on its national day with which Canada has diplomatic relations.” However, “the City” shall not bear the flag of a group or organization whose commitments or philosophy are contrary to the policies or regulations of the City of Ottawa, support hate, violence or racism, or have political or religious motives or represent other individual beliefs. “ Borys Gengalo, chairman of the Ottawa chapter of the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress, said the fact that the Russian embassy would make such a request on the eve of a violent military incursion into a sovereign neighbor says a lot about their mentality. “It just shows the character of the Russian state. They are bold, they are brave, they do not care about public opinion. They want things to be done for them,” he said. “The invasion of Ukraine itself is a sign of their mentality and is reflected in what the Russian embassy is doing here.” Attempts on Friday to approach the Russian Embassy in Ottawa were unsuccessful.
