But months after Freedom Knob forced downtown Ottawa to shut down, with Canadian flags fluttering from trucks and prominently appearing in protest crowds, some Canadians are rethinking what the flag means to them. And since insignificant graves were discovered in residential schools that brought to the fore the devastating impact of colonialism in this country, the question of whether the Canadian flag is worth piling up has been more complicated than ever. In anticipation of this Canada Day, Toronto resident Puneet Luthra said he always raised the flag at home to celebrate the holiday, but this year he feels different for him. “The sad part is that sometimes I wonder what people will think if I put up the flag,” Luthra told the Canadian Press. “People might think I’m someone with marginal ideas – like anti – thugs and things like that.” Another Ontario resident, Megan Bal Rigden, told CP that she had reservations about the Canadian flag because of the country’s colonial history and did not believe she would wave one, “regardless of the escort.” Forrest Pass, historian and curator of the Library and Archives of Canada, told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview that he sees fewer Canadian flags in Ottawa this week than usual. “[On] Canada Day, especially in the nation’s capital, we see flags everywhere. “It’s just part of the urban furniture here.” “But there were definitely fewer and, jokingly, I heard it [the convoy is] a reason why people do not throw them away. “ However, a recent survey of more than 1,000 Canadians found that 76 percent of them would be proud to fly the Canadian flag, with 14 percent disagreeing with that statement. The same poll, conducted by Counsel Public Affairs Inc., also asked participants how Canada Day should be celebrated, given racial discrimination and colonial injustice in Canadian society. Nearly half (47 percent) of respondents said the day should be spent on both celebration and reflection, while 41 percent said it was a day of celebration – with thoughts left for another day. Twelve percent of respondents said Canada Day should be strictly about reflecting on the country’s shortcomings. For some who have chosen not to fly the Canadian flag this holiday season, the concern is that it could signal a belief in a particular movement they do not support, such as the Freedom Convoy protests. During the weeks that the escort occupied Ottawa, their supporters covered their trucks and vehicles with full-size Canadian flags. “It is not uncommon in the US to see people across the political spectrum using the flag to represent the meanings of what it means to be American,” Pas explained. “We did not have it to the same extent until quite recently.” As Pas said, some Freedom Fighters supporters used the Canadian flag during the protest to a more American patriotism. “[The] intention was to correlate [the protesters’] “Their goals and objectives, their values with Canadian patriotism and therefore declare that these ideas, their kind of fundamentalist notion of freedom, are uniquely Canadian, uniquely Canadian,” Pas said. “Contrary to the positions of their opponents and the vast majority of us, who did not necessarily agree with their positions.”
THE HISTORY OF THE FLAG
While the American flag has been around for almost 250 years and has a dramatic history of origins, “it was supposed to be sewn by Betsy Ross on the orders of a general during the Revolutionary War,” Pass said, adding that the Canadian flag is relatively new and has arrived. in the world in a calmer way. The Canadian flag we know today was raised by the Liberal Party in 1964 to replace the Red Ensign, a temporary national flag that was sometimes used as an alternative to the Union Jack of England at the time. When the map was designed from maple leaves, it was not a nationalist outcry, with many clearly associating it with the Liberal Party, Pas said. “It’s really in the past, I would say, 20, maybe 30 years since we started seeing those in the center right hugging the maple flag so eagerly,” he said. Other flags have been used politically in the past along Canadian rifts, he explained, and the maple leaf as an icon has been used by white nationalist groups in Canada in the past, such as a pro-Nazi party based in Quebec in the 1930s. The Red Ensign, for example, is often embraced by white nationalist organizations, which in the 1960s felt it should not be replaced “because it represented Canada’s position in the empire,” Pas said, adding that these organizations consider the greatness of the empire came from racial purity. “ But as for the classic red and white flag, it is so new that it has not had much chance of being used as a controversial symbol, Pass said. “We are not used to seeing it used in such a partisan way,” he said. The idea behind a national flag is to represent “all of us,” Heather Nicol, director of the School of Canadian Studies at Trent University, told CTVNews.ca in a video call. “At the Olympics, people wrap themselves in the flag because they represent Canada, or it flies to Parliament or over institutions, but when someone chooses it and says, ‘It represents just one view and not another, it has a discouraging result, I think, “he said. Part of the unpleasant feelings some Canadians have around the Canadian flag this day may come from the terrifying sight of the Canadian flag waving next to Nazi symbols during demonstrations in Ottawa, he said. Many associated with Freedom Convoy have said that those who display hate speech were a small, marginal group who do not approve.
LEKAS OF RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
Discussions about the Canadian flag and other symbols of patriotism have been going on for years, but they seem to be intensifying. “It’s not just Freedom Convoy,” Nicol said. In 2021, Canada Day looked different in many cities, with people exchanging their usual red and white to wear orange shirts to honor the lives of Indigenous people in the wake of the confirmation of insignificant graves in three former residential schools – a number that has increased, with at least 1,800 confirmed or suspected insignificant tombs have since been identified. Hundreds more schools are still wanted. To an overwhelming number of Indigenous people, the Canadian flag was never a symbol to identify with. “The flag was adopted in 1965 and the last residential school closed in 1996,” Pas said. “So for more than 30 years, this is a flag that has flown over home schools. “It was a flag that for many natives was a symbol of colonialism.” The flag has been used for reconciliation gestures in the past, such as lowering the flags in the middle for months in 2021 after the first announcements of insignificant tombs. However, given Canada’s poor history of taking concrete steps towards reconciliation, many Indigenous people have said that the Canadian flag does not convey a sense of belonging. Last year, there were calls for “Cancellation of Canada Day” and this year, several indigenous communities said they would not recognize the day, such as the Six Nations of the Great River. The community said in a statement this week that “we hope that instead of a day of celebration, July 1st may be a day of dark reflection and renewed commitment to advance the reconciliation process.” The statement called on Canadians to wear orange again to honor children lost in the home school system as well as survivors.
THE FLAG IN THE FRAMEWORK
Canadians who are worried that their flag may be misinterpreted should remember that the framework plays a big role. When the sound of endless horns echoed in Ottawa in February, Pas recalled his neighbor hanging a Canadian flag outside the house along with signs saying “vaccine orders save lives” to clarify the household’s whereabouts. Due to the simple and straightforward design of the flag, it lends itself to many edits that allow people to layer identities and values on it as well, Pass said, noting that there are LGBTQ2S + versions of the Canadian flag as well as a native redesign. These versions can allow people to express themselves further. The general question of whether the flag itself should be hoisted, given its colonial past and Canada’s shortcomings, is less certain, experts say. Symbols change over time as do societies, and the question is what will continue to be asked. “I think it can really be infected or occupied by a political faction only if everyone else allows it,” Pas said. He added that the continuation of these conversations is important, a feeling that Nicole resonated with. “I think so [the flag] “It may be a symbol of unity again, but I think at the moment it is a symbol of ‘we have a lot of work to do,’” he said. “I do not celebrate a legacy, I do not celebrate a story. I just celebrate the opportunity and the hope that in order to do that we can do something better. ”
