Canada Day 2022 - time to take our flag back

Walking the dog around the block, I couldn’t help but see some neighbours had hung the Canadian flag in recognition of Canada Day. It’s nice to see, and it didn’t hurt for me to be reminded that that flag should be a source of pride. 

That last line may sound a bit weird to some, so I should explain. Back in February, at the height of the so-called Freedom Convoy making a nuisance of itself in Ottawa and with a similar protest scheduled for outside the New Brunswick legislature, I was driving downtown when I saw a pickup truck with small Canadian flags hanging from its windows. My immediate reaction, the first thing that flashed through my mind on seeing those Canadian flags was something along the lines of “Oh great, another one of those trucker protest a**holes”. 

These people obviously didn’t understand freedom, and their anti-vaccine protest was quickly taken over by American-influenced anti-government radicals. But that aside, what stuck the most with me, was their use of our flag.  

Desecrating it by flying it upside down or wrapping themselves in it both physically and symbolically, did dirt to what should be, and traditionally has been, a source of Canadian pride. I have to ask myself why my reaction to seeing our flag hanging from that truck in the downtown was so visceral? And the answer is because the protestors had claimed it and turned it into a symbol of their misguided protest.  

It is a bloody shame but it is a fact. But here we are on another Canada Day and it is time to take our flag back. We should all be able to take pride in it again, like my neighbours, secure in the knowledge that it is indeed representative of a great country. 

Like any great country though, there is unfortunate history that we must confront. Last year’s Canada Day celebrations were rightfully subdued because of the then recent news of all those unmarked graves of indigenous children who had been forced into Residential Schools. (my blog from last year’s Canada Day can be found here) 

The positive thing is that the vast majority of Canadians got it, we understood, and are committed to progress. Because that’s what great countries do – they confront the dark chapters of their past, and commit to doing better in the future.  

So fellow Canadians, Happy Canada Day. Wave the flag with pride. There are few countries on this earth with as much to be thankful for. And part of that is our striving toward reconciliation and equality for all.

Thanks for reading. And if you are so inclinded, for sharing.