The image of a black and white Canadian flag with a thin blue line crossing through it, featured on an Oro-Medonte councillor’s Facebook page, has raised some concerns for at least one township resident about what that symbol has come to represent in recent years, especially as the township boasts its participation in an online campaign to reduce racism and discrimination.
“In the face of this incredible and timely initiative in Simcoe County, let us address the elephant in the room. Coun. Scott’s profile picture features an image of a black Canadian flag with a single blue line in the centre," Oro-Medonte resident Tim Taylor said in an email to OrilliaMatters. "This immediately caught my curiosity and attention.
"It turns out that the 'Thin Blue Line' Canadian flag comes with all sorts of controversy across Canada and North America," he added. "While this symbol has become a symbol of solidarity among police officers across Canada, it comes with its own baggage as well.”
The thin blue line symbol is a black and white Canadian flag with a solid blue line running through it, symbolizing the line officers walk daily between life and death.
The symbol has become controversial over the past few years, more so in the United States, in light of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement that sparked talks of defunding police and redirecting funding to social services. Critics also argue the flag symbolizes an "us-versus-them" divisive mentality.
In November 2021, a Bradford high school student, whose mother is a Barrie police officer, was suspended from school after refusing to take down a thin blue line flag from his truck.
Taylor says Scott had shared the township’s annual initiative to raise awareness about diversity and inclusion after it joined forces with the County of Simcoe to promote the #ITSTARTS campaign to reduce racism and discrimination throughout the region, and the image seems to go against that goal.
“Listen, I am not at all suggesting that Coun. Scott is displaying this symbol for hateful reasons, but given the crusade to reduce racism and discrimination in Simcoe County, the (cover) picture just seems inappropriate on a municipal councillor’s Facebook page,” Taylor said.
“It seems prudent to remove this symbol that possibly conveys negative attitudes — attitudes that seem to run contrary to the very thing Coun. Scott and his colleagues in the county are trying to combat," he added.
Scott, who was elected to township council in 2018, confirmed that his private Facebook page includes an image of an angel laying on a blue line, and his public councillor page includes a Canadian flag with the thin blue line through it.
“The vast majority of the people on my personal page are my personal friends, and a large majority of them are law enforcement, retired law enforcement… other professionals in emergency services as well as military individuals,” said Scott, who is a retired law enforcement officer.
“I fully support the police, always have, always will. I don’t see a conflict with one of my personal pages having that thin blue line on it, or the angel over the blue line, which has a significance when an officer is killed in the line of duty," he added. "I fully stand behind the thin blue line and I won’t be making any changes to my page.”
Scott added he doesn’t feel the image goes against what the #ITSTARTS campaign is working to accomplish.
“I worked in internal affairs as a human rights Investigator. I make no apologies for having the thin blue line and something that I support. Quite candidly, I reject the negative image that’s been associated with that," he said. "The thin blue line is something that’s been associated with me and my life since the age of 16."
Scott, who said he comes from a “military and police family," added his personal opinion is that the image is “not offensive,” but added he does apologize if others see it that way.
“If people want to judge me for a symbol that I stand behind, that's their choice,” he said. “It’s interesting this letter is coming after me for some reason. I am not quite sure why. … There's never been an issue with my social media and I find it rather ironic that all of a sudden my social media is being attacked months before the (municipal) election campaign starts.”
