An Amherstburg man said he's outraged after seeing a half American, half Canadian flag outside a Wallaceburg business.
Ernie Taylor was driving down McNaughton Avenue on January 3 when he noticed the flag in front of the Days Inn Hotel.
Taylor said he describes himself as a "proud Canadian." He said he's used to establishments not following proper flag etiquette, but what he saw in front of the hotel was the last straw.
"When I saw that, I thought that had just gone over the top. Not only do you have what appears the American flag on top of a Canadian flag, you really defaced the whole Canadian flag altogether. Sometimes you have to take a stand. We're getting too relaxed on a lot of this stuff," Taylor said.
He pulled over to take a photo of the flag and posted it to Facebook, where it has been shared nearly 1,500 times.
"I think there's a lot of proud Canadians. A lot of people, I think, understand the history behind the flag," said Taylor. "I think a lot of people are saying 'enough's enough, that's our flag.'"
Taylor has reached out to Days Inn's corporate office.
"It's not political. It's not racist. It's not about anything going on. It's Canada, you've got to respect it. If you're going to fly a flag then follow the protocol for flying flags," said Taylor.
The owners of the Days Inn issued a statement regarding the flag. According to them, the flag was put up by the previous owners and didn't think to take it down when they took over.
"On behalf of all the staff, manager, and owner of the Days Inn, Wallaceburg, we would like to officially state that there is no flag at the Days Inn," The statement said. "As soon as this was brought to us, we [took] it down with full respect and with no hesitation! Our intention [was] never to hurt or disrespect anyone!! We are proud Canadians ourselves and will not tolerate any kind of disrespect! We would like to thank you a for sharing your concern and encourage to do so further on!"
The current owners took over the business roughly two years ago and said this was the first time someone took issue with the flag. They added the flag was purchased in one piece and a Canadian flag was not defaced or altered to create the one Taylor was mad about.
