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Flags at half mast outside CFB Gagetown.

Commemorate all you want but the whole "awareness of violence against women" thing is getting old... really old. All of a sudden, if something happens to a woman it's of more concern. Well, sorry, but not to me and not to anyone that considers themselves an egalitarian. Violence is violence, I couldn't care less whether the victim has a penis (which is usually the case) or not.
 
Gosh, it's a shame Lepine didn't consider himself an egalitarian as well... ::)
 
Michael Dorosh said:
Correct expression is half-staff; masts are used by the Navy.

Ours were at half staff on Saturday; I still don't know why.   Pte Woodfield maybe?

You are mistaken Mr Dorosh.  The correct term is not "Half Staff" as you say. Half Staff is a US Term, and Half Mast is a Commonwealth term.  In fact, the Canadian government website on The National Flag of Canada uses the term "Half-mast"

Check this site out from the CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/flagflap.html


 
JSR OP said:
You are mistaken Mr Dorosh.   The correct term is not "Half Staff" as you say. Half Staff is a US Term, and Half Mast is a Commonwealth term.   In fact, the Canadian government website on The National Flag of Canada uses the term "Half-mast"

Check this site out from the CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/flagflap.html

The Canadian Press has been adopted American spelling and syntax as a matter of policy for over a decade now - notice the lack of words like "colour", "honour", "valour" in favour of the US spelling - colour, valor, honor.  It surprises me not that they would insist that we likewise adopt US terms for flag etiquette...
 
Half-mast was chosen by the CBC years ago. It is also the official wording used by Parliament. (The White House prefers color and half-staff.)

The selection of half-mast isn't so much a matter of being right. It's more a case of style â “ staying consistent, and Canadian.

...nor does it surprise me that the CBC would ignore what represents decades of Army tradition (nor should it surprise anyone that Mr. Trudeau would do so either) and decide that it and it alone should dictate how Canadians think.

I suggest we call it half-freedom-stick and do away with any connotation of those nasty Americans once and for all.
 
Michael Dorosh said:
The Canadian Press has been adopted American spelling and syntax as a matter of policy for over a decade now - notice the lack of words like "colour", "honour", "valour" in favour of the US spelling - colour, valor, honor.   It surprises me not that they would insist that we likewise adopt US terms for flag etiquette...

Whoops - i don't have the ability to edit while on VW, so pardon the instinct to spell it correctly - apologies for any confusion.

In all seriousness, an interesting link, thanks.  I'm not convinced, though - the Canadian Press and CBC should not be viewed as the arbiters of what good tradition in the military should be, nor should *shudder* The Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau...
 
It is half mast as per A-AD-200/000 (old CFP 200) Honours, Heritage manual which I don't have in front of me for the specific reference.
 
A-AD-200-000/AG-000 (old CFP 200) The Honours Flags,  and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces - Chapter 4. Section 2

  All flags at Federal buildings (of which the CF is a part) are to be at half mast from sunrise to sunset on Dec 6 for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/berne-halfmasting/index_e.cfm is the link for when flags are to be flown at half-mast in Canada.
 
Michael Dorosh said:
The Canadian Press has been adopted American spelling and syntax as a matter of policy for over a decade now - notice the lack of words like "colour", "honour", "valour" in favour of the US spelling - colour, valor, honor.  It surprises me not that they would insist that we likewise adopt US terms for flag etiquette...

Actually when it was first pointed out in this thread that the expression was half-staff not half-mast that struck me as being incorrect.  So the next day at work I looked in the British Army equivalent of Drill and Ceremonial and there is no reference in there of half-staff, just half mast.

I highly doubt the British Army has adopted that single expression from the Americans, so I come down on the side of half mast.  No one is insisting we adopt anything, instead, theya are, surprisingly, using the correct term.

D
 
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