FLAG NOT FLYING HIGH FOR LONG...

Allow me to stir the pot over this next problem.

Months ago, I was assured by the owner of the Valley Way Motel in
Niagara Falls that this problem was solved, but the red and white
flag with the large marijuana leaf in the centre keeps appearing.

It goes up for awhile, it gets taken down and then a short time later
it makes another appearance.

Just above it, on the same pole, is the Canadian flag.

This matter was first brought to my attention months ago by some
residents who live in the area. Not only is it in bad taste to have
it flying in front of a local business, on a busy street close to an
elementary school and close to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 51,
but it's an insult and shows disrespect to have it flying under our
national flag.

Last December, I wrote a column about this problem after visiting the
motel, talking to the one tenant who looks after the property, Doug
Hammond, who told me he would take it down.

I also contacted the owner of the property, who lives in Toronto, who
promised me the flag would come down. The owner visits the property
occasionally so he's not always aware of what goes on every day.

I stopped and talked to Hammond a short time ago after I noticed the
marijuana flag had gone back up. He didn't really seem concerned and
made it a point to let me know I was on private property.

It was his way of telling me to bud out of his business.

The flag pole is close to the city sidewalk so it won't be a problem
getting all the photos we need whenever the marijuana flag is up and flying.

Maybe I'm making a bigger issue out of this than it really is, but it
really bugs me to see those two flags flying one over the other. And,
it must bother a few other readers who call me whenever the marijuana
flag is flying high.

We've all had a good laugh, but the joke is over and it's time to put
an end to this issue once and for all. We live in Niagara Falls, for
gosh sakes, not Budville.

Some residents in Huntsville went through a fight of their own not
long ago when one of the merchants decided to put one of these
marijuana flags in their window offering them for sale. That would
not bother me. Our case is much worse.

The owner of the motel, a gentleman by the name of Mohammed Hafeez,
who also owns Frenchman's Creek Park Motel and Campground in Fort
Erie, said he was surprised to hear the marijuana flag had gone back
up and that it would be taken down immediately.

He even visited the property to make sure it would happen.

Hafeez agreed that when someone flies a flag, it's a sign of respect,
and some businesses will have several flags on poles flying
side-by-side in front of their businesses from various countries.

The tenant has been told by the owner that if he likes the marijuana
flag so much he can keep it in his room or put it on his window, but
that it doesn't belong on a flag pole, under the Canadian flag, in
front of his business.

A "token" of appreciation goes out to Hafeez for looking into this
problem -- again -- and for making it a "very high" priority on his schedule.

If this problem sprouts up again, I'm calling the Weedman.