The LGBTQ+ organization PRISM Community Services Inc. is calling on the Moose Jaw Police Service and the City of Moose Jaw to uphold a promise made in 2020 by now-retired police chief Rick Bourassa.
In November 2020, the Moose Jaw Police Service and Moose Jaw Pride held a joint press conference during which Bourassa issued a historic apology to the LGBTQ+ community for years of discrimination and wrongdoing.
As part of the apology, Bourassa said police would take steps to work with Moose Jaw’s LGBTQ+ community and committed to permanently flying the Pride flag at the police station.
“Back then, he stated—and it’s in one of these articles—that the Pride flag would fly permanently from now on,” said PRISM founder and chair Sarah Critchley. “He just retired in February, and in 2022, as far as I can tell, at about that point, it was walked back. It basically just disappeared, and that was right after the folding of Moose Jaw Pride and the issues that they had.”
Moose Jaw Pride disbanded in September of 2022 after the board learned of over $100,000 in liabilities including unpaid loans, bills and taxes.
Critchley said there have been no flag-raising ceremonies or public explanations since 2022 as to why the flag policy was changed.
Critchley noted that while PRISM is calling for the return of the Pride flag, it doesn’t necessarily need to fly year-round.
“I’m not going to argue for it to be permanent, but at least during Pride Week or Month it would be nice to see it,” she said.
She added that visibility and safety for queer and trans people in Moose Jaw is already fragile, and flying the Pride flag would send a meaningful message of support.
While she emphasized that LGBTQ+ people are not more important than any other community, Critchley pointed to the Métis and Treaty flags that currently fly at the police station. She said those flags rightly recognize the founding peoples of this land and history, but their presence also shows there is no policy preventing specific community flags from being flown.
She believes the Pride flag’s absence is due to discomfort with LGBTQ+ visibility.
In response, the Moose Jaw Police Service issued the following statement:
“Thank you for bringing your concern to the attention of the Moose Jaw Police Service, the Board of Police Commissioners, some members of City Council and the media.
As you may be aware, the chief of police, whom you refer to in your attached media release as making a commitment in 2020 to permanently fly the Pride flag, then removing it in 2022, has recently retired. As such, we are unable to provide context for his decision.
However, the Board of Police Commissioners has been actively engaged in hiring a replacement, in hopes of welcoming a new chief of police to the Moose Jaw Police Service soon. At that time, your concerns and any organizational policies related to flag protocol will be reviewed.”