Sault city council says no to hanging portrait of King Charles in council chambers

A portrait of King Charles will not be hung in the council chambers in Sault Ste. Marie.

A motion to have the portrait put up was defeated at a council meeting on Monday night.

"This year, there's been two elections. With these elections came a lot of fear mongering, partisanship, threats of annexation and talk of separation," said Coun. Stephan Kinach, who put forward the motion.

"With the conclusions of the federal election and another minority governments, we must embrace Canadian symbols, tradition, culture and heritage to unite the country."

Kinach said he thought it was a "brilliant idea" for Prime Minister Mark Carney to invite King Charles to deliver the speech from the throne later this month.

"This is a classy, elbows up move by showing sovereignty," he said.

"Now, it's our turn of city council to do our part in our confederation by displaying a portrait of King Charles."

'Significant role in our local history'

But not all councillors agreed with the idea. Coun. Angela Caputo said while it's important to recognize the significance of Canada's relationship with the monarchy, it's also a priority to recognize that Indigenous people have requested an apology from the British monarch for the Crown's role in the residential school system.

"Until the monarchy properly apologies to Indigenous people in Canada, I will not support the hanging of the royal portrait."

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said since elected, he's taken steps to include Indigenous practices at city hall, including being led in at his 2022 inauguration by an Indigenous drummer instead of a bagpiper.

He also said he removed Queen Elizabeth's portrait and instead, replaced it with Chief Shingwauk, an Anishnaabe chief.

"[He] represents a much more significant role in our local history then the Crown does," he said.

"And for two and a half years, nobody noticed until I mentioned it on Twitter. It's astonishing that we were able to get all this governance done without the king's picture up. And yet now, it is a necessary symbol for us to properly conduct ourselves. So I don't think that it has the impact that it is conveyed to be having."

The motion was defeated by a vote of 5-4.