Four decades after it raised the Canadian flag, a small Idaho town fights to keep it flying

Globe and Mail

12-05-2025

As you cross the Kootenai River driving south into Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Highway 95 sweeps to the left, beside a patch of grass where, for the better part of a century, the Canadian flag has fluttered next to the stars and stripes and the state emblem.
Rick Alonzo was there when the maple leaf was first raised four decades ago, at a spot 42 kilometres from the U.S.-Canada border that Idahoans have long crossed for sporting events and runs to the closest Dairy Queen, in Creston, B.C. He was also the one who ordered it pulled down late last month, after the state Attorney-General's office threatened to sue if the city continued to display the flag of a foreign nation on government property, following the passage of a restrictive law earlier this year that has become popular among conservative states.
And Mr. Alonzo, now the local mayor, was there last week, when a small crowd of city councillors and concerned residents once again raised the Canadian flag at its traditional spot, after they voted unanimously to declare 'that three-hundred and sixty-five days per year are a special occasion in the city of Bonners Ferry commemorating our city's neighborly relationship with Canada.'
'It just makes sense,' Mr. Alonzo said, 'since we're such close neighbours that we fly your country's flag. Because we are good friends.'
The banishment and resurrection of the Canadian flag in northern Idaho marks a minor moment in the life of a city of 2,520.
But it comes at a time of much broader social and legislative change across the U.S., as conservative states, emboldened by the triumph of Donald Trump in last year's election, pursue new measures to stamp out ideas they find distasteful, including the celebration of groups outside heterosexual orthodoxy.
'If you're not white and you're not Christian,' said Tom Arkoosh, who ran for state Attorney-General in 2022 as a Democrat, 'the right wing of the Republican Party does not want you.'
Utah, too, has passed legislation banning most flags from government property. Backers of the laws in those states say they simply want to ensure divisive symbols are not displayed in public spaces.
But critics say the intent is to force the removal of rainbow flags that have been displayed at city halls in Boise and Salt Lake City.
'My read on this situation is that this legislation was specifically aimed at the City of Boise. They've been flying the pride flag outside of city hall for 10 years,' said Andrakay Pluid, the Bonners Ferry city attorney.
'They wanted them to take that pride flag down. And Bonners Ferry and any other municipality that's flying a different flag got looped into it.'
Ms. Pluid crafted the Bonners Ferry resolution establishing a unique designation for Canada, taking advantage of a loophole in the law that allows for foreign flags to be flown on special occasions, while leaving that undefined. That means 'every day can be a special occasion,' Ms. Pluid said.
In Boise and Salt Lake City, councillors found other loopholes, designating rainbow flags as official city flags – allowing them to be displayed once again.
The willingness in those cities to buck state legislators is emblematic of broader political tensions as diverse urban polities resist legislation that imposes a narrow definition of acceptable cultural displays.
Meanwhile, conservative legislators are seeking to constrict the broader boundaries of American life.
In Idaho, one of the primary backers of the flag legislation was state representative Heather Scott, a Republican who also proposed a measure this year condemning the U.S. Supreme Court legalization of same-sex marriage as an 'illegitimate overreach.'
That measure asked for the reinstatement of 'the natural definition of marriage' as being between a man and a woman.
Ms. Scott did not respond to a request for comment.
State Senator Ben Toews, the other primary backer of the flag legislation, said his concern extended beyond the pride flag.
'The idea behind the legislation is trying to keep, I would say, politically charged flags out of the public sphere,' he said in an interview.
'It makes more sense for us to fly flags that unify us and not divide us,' he added.
Still, Sen. Toews said he intended to find a way to remake the legislation to block the loophole used by Boise. 'It's likely we'll find some way to address it,' he said.
He said it would also make sense to address some of the other problems created by the legislation. The law can be read to bar cities from flying flags on public land to alert drivers to workers ahead, or to celebrate important local groups such as the sizeable Basque community in Boise – or to welcome Canadians.
'We can fix it to make sure that it's clear that we're glad we have such great neighbours up in Canada and are totally supportive of that,' Sen. Toews said.
For now, at least, he said he had no desire to ban the maple leaf, notwithstanding the repeated pledges by Mr. Trump to annex Canada.
'I imagine if we were at war with Canada, we wouldn't be flying the flag,' Sen. Toews said. 'But I don't think we have any plans for that.' In the meantime, he called the Bonners Ferry resolution on Canada a 'beautiful' way to address the issue.
Restoring the Canadian flag, of course, is unlikely to achieve much against the larger set of issues between the two countries. U.S. border land crossings into Idaho were down 12 per cent in February and March.
At the Kootenai River Inn Casino and Spa, owned by the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Canadian business fell by half during the first quarter of the year, said Tom Turpin, chief executive of the Kootenai Tribal Development Corporation. The tribe has kept a Canadian flag on display at its casino complex.
'We love our Canadians. We're not going to take our flag down. Never even once thought about it,' Mr. Turpin said. 'They're a very valuable part of our business. But they're also friends. They're family.'
Others in Bonner Ferry cannot understand the broader White House hostility toward Canada.
'The tariff thing is just crazy. I don't get it,' said Cal Russell, who owns Boundary Tractor, a local Kubota dealer.
He was among those who spoke at the city council meeting at which the Canada resolution passed.
'We're all one, and it just didn't make sense that we couldn't fly the flag,' he said.
Mr. Russell is pleased that the red-and-white has once again been raised alongside the red-white-and-blue.
'It's where it belongs,' he said.