Victor Crapnell remembers the uneasy feeling he had watching the Freedom Convoy protests unfold in his hometown of Ottawa in February. The feeling came as he saw the red and white maple leaf on Canada’s flag standing out against the snowy backdrop.
The Victoria resident says seeing the image of the flag displayed so prominently, on some occasions alongside Confederate and Nazi flags, stirred up emotions he says he never usually associated with the country’s most recognizable symbol.
“It sort of hit home to me that our beautiful flag had been hijacked as their symbol of protest,” Crapnell said. “And I thought, ‘That’s not right.'”
People wrapped in Canadian flags hold gas canisters, as truckers and supporters continue to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates, in Ottawa on Feb. 11. Freedom Convoy protests are expected to return over Canada Day weekend. (Lars Habgerg/Reuters)
With that in mind, the graphic designer created a sticker this spring with an image of a Canadian flag crushing a tractor trailer and the words “Canada Take Back Your Flag” encircling the image. At his wife’s behest, so as not to cast aspersions on all truckers, he added a misspelled Freedom Convoy logo on the truck.
Crapnell’s project to reclaim what he believes is the rightful meaning of the flag garnered interest across the country. He says he’s shipped more than 1,600 stickers nationwide.
“Our flag has always had a reputation around the world of friendliness and tolerance and acceptance, and it really hurt me to see that damaged,” said Crapnell.
Victor Crapnell wants the Canadian flag to continue to represent friendliness and tolerance around the world. ‘It sort of hit home to me that our beautiful flag had been hijacked as their symbol of protest,’ he said. ‘And I thought, ‘That’s not right.” (Michael McArthur/CBC)
As Canada Day approaches, some groups related to February’s protests have promised to return to Ottawa, leading some to speak out about protesters with the convoy using the flag as their preferred symbol of protest.
Crapnell and others argue it is a symbol of unity, not one that should represent divisions over COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic policies.
“Now all of a sudden, it’s been taken over by people who have a very extreme political agenda. They desecrate, in my view, the flag by using it somehow as a false flag,” said Lloyd Axworthy, a former Liberal foreign affairs minister.
“As a result, it diminishes its importance and its sense of meaning for a lot of Canadians.”
But members of the protest convoy who see their actions as a patriotic defence of the freedoms Canada stands for say they have just as much right to brandish the flag as any Canadian.
Jason Kowalyshyn of Take Action Canada, a group opposed to vaccine mandates and COVID-related restrictions, is travelling from Hamilton, Ont., to be in Ottawa this weekend. He says the flag will be as prominent as it was during previous protests.
“We should all be united under the flag,” he said. “From my perspective, the flag has more meaning now because it represents patriotism and freedom.”
Kowalyshyn said when he’s driving and sees a car with a Canadian flag, he welcomes it.
“I usually wave at the them, and they smile, and they know why I’m waving because they also understand that [the flag] represents our collective rights and freedoms that we’re advocating for,” he said.
For Mohamad Fakih, on the other hand, seeing the flag fluttering on people’s cars brings a moment of doubt and hesitation.
Crapnell designed these ‘take back your flag’ stickers because he wanted to do something to counter the use of the Canadian flag by convoy protesters. He’s mailed out more than 1,600 so far. (Submitted by Victor Crapnell)
“You always wonder now when you see the flag, ‘Who is the person inside that truck? Who is that person inside that car?'” said Fakih, a Lebanese immigrant to Canada and CEO of Paramount Fine Foods.
“Is it a real Canadian patriot or someone who actually have different set of mind or ideas or someone who is ready to occupy our capital?”
Inside Fakih’s office, a large Maple Leaf hangs from a pole beside his desk. He says it represents an important symbol of inclusion, especially for people who came to Canada from other countries seeking better lives. He says he feels the flag, and its association with the protesters, sends the wrong message.
“We need to send a message that the flag will always remain the symbol of freedom, the symbol of diversity and inclusion of an open, great country that welcome people like me and not only welcome them, celebrate them,” Fakih said.
He’s encouraging Canadians to buy and display flags to reclaim what he sees as the true spirit of the symbol. He put a flag on his own car and posted an image of it as a call to action on social media.
Get your Maple Leaf flag before July 1. Display it prominently outside your home. Place it in a window. Mount it on your car. Raise it at the lake or the shore. Let’s see more and more flags each day – for a Canada Day to remember!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShowTheFlag?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ShowTheFlag</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyTheMapleLeaf?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#FlyTheMapleLeaf</a> <a href=”https://t.co/ABdme5LBSm”>pic.twitter.com/ABdme5LBSm</a>
The Canadian flag has been a source of controversy long before the Freedom Convoy started using it. It’s also a painful symbol for many Indigenous people.
“The flag cannot be divorced from the colonization, the violence, the genocide, that Indigenous peoples have experienced,” says Niigaan Sinclair, who is Anishinaabe and a professor of native studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
“Not only does the flag represent maple syrupy sweetness for many Canadians, but for Indigenous peoples, the flag represents a genocide that is still ongoing.”
Flag expert Forrest Pass with Library and Archives Canada say different groups have often used the flag and the maple leaf as a symbol to add legitimacy to their movements. Controversy over different interpretations of the flag’s meaning is not new, he said. (Mathieu Theriault/CBC)
Forrest Pass, an expert in the study of flags, known as a vexillologist, and curator with Library and Archives Canada, said debate was fierce before the Maple Leaf was adopted in 1965.
It pitted Conservatives, who wanted to maintain a red ensign, against the Liberals and New Democrats, who wanted to adopt the Maple Leaf.
From the 1995 referendum to the flag flap of 1998 — when Bloc Québécois MPs criticized the number of Canadian flags at the Olympics — the Maple Leaf’s meaning has always been evolving, he says.
“The flag has always been political, and this is something Canadians need to remember as we talk about the more controversial uses of the flag today,” Pass said.
While the Ottawa protests involved a number of different groups, many with different agendas, Pass says mainstream political symbols such as the flag can often be used to legitimize extreme beliefs.
WATCH | Here’s how Ottawa is preparing for potential Canada Day protests:
Ottawa prepares for protests to coincide with Canada Day
3 days ago
Duration 1:59
Ottawa’s mayor and police say they are prepared for any planned protests around Canada Day celebrations, but business owners and residents say they are bracing themselves after February’s disruption.
He says there may have also been a practical purpose behind adopting the flag: as a protective shield.
“I think that they were bargaining on the idea that being arrested while flying a Canadian flag would look bad before rolling TV cameras,” Pass said.
He says the kind of flag-waving seen at protests in Canada today is heavily influenced by the U.S., which has a long history of using the flag as a patriotic symbol.
“It looks very much like an American patriotic display … and that’s a fairly recent development in Canada,” Pass said.
Mohamad Fakih says he recognizes that there are a lot of different groups within the protests but says he hopes they won’t overtake Canada Day celebrations.
“Diversity and inclusion is part of our Canadian dream and democracy,” he said. “If you’re not happy with the prime minister, if you’re not happy with politics, then vote. Go through the democratic process.”
In Victoria, Victor Crapnell hopes that the Canadian flag will be on full display across the country this weekend.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the positive flags outweigh the negative ones,” he said.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
