A proposal to honor neighboring nations did not fly at the most recent Langley City Council meeting.

Monday night, Councilmember Craig Cyr suggested raising the Canadian flag on the upcoming Canada Day — July 1 — as a sign of solidarity. He cited a reduction in visitors from Canada, according to the Langley Chamber of Commerce director. He recommended extending the honor to Mexico as well.

When asked if there could be any downsides to raising the two flags, Cyr responded that there could be, but he believed the benefits outweigh the blowback.

His fellow council members weren’t convinced, however.

Councilmember Chris Carlson said Canadian tourists questioning coming down are following guidance from their government based on federal policies around immigration and violence.

“Signs of solidarity, I think, are nice but I don’t know that they’ll move the needle that much,” he said.

Cyr responded that it’s about indicating to residents, visitors and the workforce with that heritage that Langley is a welcoming place.

Carlson also expressed concern about the federal government targeting cities and states it views as the enemy, and for the most vulnerable residents — such as undocumented people — drawing attention and putting a target on the Langley community might not be the best result for the sake of their safety.

Mayor Kennedy Horstman agreed, saying she thought a show of support is laudable, but it’s largely performative, although there could be some economic and solidarity benefits.

“I am reticent to draw attention to our one square mile city where we do have community members who are more at risk,” she said, adding that she was worried about unintended fallout.

Cyr noted that Langley has already been in the sights of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at least once this year.

“We’re visible already, as you pointed out,” he said.

Kristen Abraham, the city’s deputy clerk, suggested reviewing flag etiquette before making a decision. Indeed, as Cyr later found out, flags of other nations cannot fly on the same pole under the American flag and must be on a separate flagstaff. According to the American Legion, when flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. Langley City Hall has a single flagpole.

The issue could potentially lead to a slippery slope, as Councilmember Rhonda Salerno noted that city hall isn’t flying Ukrainian or Palestinian flags. The mayor agreed this was a fair point and said she was more focused on trying to keep the city running and financed and hiring staff; she did not want to spend her time writing policy on flying flags.

“This is effectively performative and spending more time on it is not a good use of resources,” she said.

Horstman added that she was okay with flags of different nations flying at her personal home, but it’s different when it comes to city hall. Cyr later said he is flying Canadian and Mexican flags at his own residence.

Councilmember Gail Fleming wondered if Langley would become more of a target for flying the Mexican flag rather than the Canadian flag. She also questioned what Cyr’s proposal would accomplish.

“What are we trying to do, signal to Canadians that we like them?” she asked.

Cyr dialed back his proposal to include only flying the Canadian flag on Canada Day next week in accordance with state and federal laws regulating the flying of flags. Only Salerno voted in support. Carlson and Fleming both voted in opposition, leaving it up to the mayor to break the tie. She also voted no.

The next morning, Cyr said he was greatly concerned about Langley being portrayed in an unfriendly light. He did not anticipate that the result of his proposal would be a deadlocked council with the mayor casting the deciding nay vote, a rarity in Langley City Council meetings.