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| Stand up for the flag of Patria. These colors don't run! |
On Flag Day in Patria (the anniversary of the Act of Congress specifying the proportions of Patria's tricolour saltire and its shades of red and white), Patria wonders why there has been virtually no official celebration in Canada of the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian flag that replaced the unofficial Red Ensign and the Union Jack. The decades-long debate to adopt a distinctive made-in-Canada flag - and to end Canada's status as the world's laughing stock for being the only sovereign country in the world without an official flag of its own - culminated in December 1964 with the adoption of the simple red and white maple leaf flag recognized the world over, particularly on the backpacks of low-budget travellers. Perhaps there will be some kind of official celebration on Feb. 15, the day in 1965 that the flag publicly flew for the first time, but it does not seem likely. It is no mere oversight. The Harper Government™ seems hell-bent on taking Canada back to the bad old British colonial days, e.g. re-attaching the "Royal" label to Canada's Navy and Air Force, not to mention toadying to the British royal family. The Harperites have thrown gobs of money at commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the centennial of the First World War and even the
800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. But virtually nothing to celebrate a half century of Canada's own flag. To state the obvious, the flag was a Liberal Party creation, championed by then-Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Its predominant red colour is associated with the Liberal Party, while the Tories are blue (the opposite of the US, where Red = GOP and blue = Democrats). The Harperites consider themselves the descendants of the Diefenbaker Conservatives, even if Dief would probably turn over in his grave at that thought.
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| The Red Ensign. John Diefenbaker fought to keep it. Stephen Harper would like to bring it back. |
