For the first time in a couple of years, we are gearing up to celebrate Canada Day – with real fireworks instead of virtual ones, neighbourhood festivities featuring live entertainment and games for the kids (and adults who cannot resist the opportunity to have fun), instead of Zoom.
Out will come the goofy hats, the red and white face paint and the Canada trivia competitions, and we will love every minute we spend together. And then there are the flags.
More than one of us will feel a twinge of discomfort at the sight of so many of them, for during the pandemic, our flag came to symbolize something unexpected – an in-your-face frustration expressed in a disturbing burst of anger masked as patriotic fervour. Not proud-to-be-Canadian patriotism, but its wild-eyed and obnoxious cousin from the side of the family no one talks about.
When we think of Canadian flags, images that now come to mind include Ottawa residents hiding in their apartments while their city was taken over by flag-bedecked trucks honking all night, and crowds of guys wearing flags like capes, intimidating local residents and shouting “Freedom.”
There are images of people walking maskless into places of business in the hope of causing a confrontation, the more violent the better, that their flag-waving cohorts could videotape and post on social media.
There are images of flag-waving, obscenity-screaming protesters shutting down bridges and roads and wreaking havoc on an economy already severely damaged by two years of pandemic.
The sight of pickup trucks sporting dozens of oversized Canadian flags still creates an unsettled feeling among a lot of us – the kind of disgust and alarm usually elicited by those who commit acts like dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa.
Our Canadian flag should never have come to be associated with a desecration like that.
It is an unspeakable insult to the thousands of brave Canadians who were, and are proud to wear this country’s uniform, who were, and are willing to sacrifice everything to ensure we have the rights and freedoms we enjoy today.
As Canadians, we have the right to freely choose our government, to speak out against injustice without fear of reprisal, to make the most of a tremendous range of opportunities. We live where we choose and how we choose, worship according to our beliefs, and express our ideas – within certain bounds.
Enough with the “bleep Trudeau!” signs and Canadian flags flying upside-down in the traditional symbol of distress.
Our freedom involves an obligation to acknowledge that others have the same rights as we do. As has been said many times, our freedom to swing our arms ends where the other guy’s nose begins.
Freedom and rights do not mean aggressively and angrily imposing one’s ideas on others while waving a flag in one hand and a cell phone camera in the other.
At some point during COVID, among a certain segment of our society, lawful protest edged far to close to unlawful rebellion. Freedom and rights became confused with anarchy, and our flag became its symbol.
This Canada Day is the perfect time for us to reclaim the red and white maple leaf. Let our flag wave proudly on our buildings and vehicles. Let it hang in our windows and decorate our lawns. Let small children scamper about with flags drawn on their cheerful faces.
Let it appear on Canada Day cakes, hats and lawn chairs – the more flags, the better. Let it wave for all the right reasons, right-side-up – this country is far from in distress.
The sight of our flag should cause no feeling of apprehension, but only pleasure and pride. It must once again symbolize true freedom – the freedom to live our lives according to the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, to make the most of the many opportunities offered to us as Canadians, and to celebrate spending time with each other in this great country we call home.
Bring out the flags, eh!
