A recent flag flap and online threats will not deter a pro-life group from flying their banner in Kelowna next week.
Controversy over flying a pro-life flag over city hall resulted in councillors voting to stop their tradition of flying “courtesy flags” that promote various causes and groups.
The issue resulted in several emails and letters threatening to burn or destroy the pro-life flag if it flew, Marlon Bartram, executive director of Kelowna Right to Life, told The Huffington Post B.C. on Tuesday.
However, plans are going ahead to fly the banner at four different schools in the city Sept. 24-30, which the mayor has declared “Protect Human Life Week.”
Immaculata Catholic Regional High School, Kelowna Christian Heritage School and St. Joseph's Elementary in Kelowna, as well as Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary in Westbank, will fly the pro-life flag.
Because of the threats, there will be 24-hour video surveillance of the grounds surrounding the flag poles, Bartram told the Kelowna Capital News.
Bartram said the hostility toward the anti-abortion group is not new. “It’s not uncommon for us to get obscene gestures from passing cars. It doesn’t prevent us from speaking out on what we believe,” he told HuffPost B.C.
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