RAISING A FLAG

How much is our national flag respected? According to our mayor, Hugh
Mackenzie, our cherished maple leaf may require a little assistance.

Mackenzie's move to protect our flag during Monday's committee of the whole
meeting is admirable. But let's hope his good intentions in this case (a
downtown store displaying a flag with a pot plant where the maple leaf
should be) are grounded in common sense.

First, it would be wrong to suggest the mayor shouldn't bring this forward
(albeit a little late -- four years after the flag first appeared).

Our mayor is a passionate Canadian. The flag is a worthy symbol. No proud
Canadian wants to see that deflated.

Whether you regard the pot flag matter as trivial or not, think of this.

If a store on Main Street displayed a Canadian flag with the maple leaf
removed and a swastika in its place, how much debate would there be before
action was taken? Little, if any. How many people would condemn that
instance? Many. In turn, how many would support, dismiss, ignore, or laugh
at the pot plant flag? Probably just as many.

Let's a face it, the Canadian flag does not get embroiled in too many
flaps. Other than Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams' recent, and
childish, removal of flags from public places, how many other times has the
flag been used as a tool of anger?

Even during the last Quebec referendum there were no mass incidents of
Canadian flags being desecrated. There were no images of burning maple
leafs being carried down Rene Leveque Blvd. by angry separatists.

The question we should be asking is why is there a lack of malevolence
toward our flag? Truth be told, it's not that we don't care enough to
bother. Instead, it's that most Canadians inherently understand the
symbolism of our maple leaf. We know deep down that our flag's true worth
cannot be tarnished by swastikas, flames and definitely not by a pot plant.

Certainly, no self-respecting Canadian should ever stand by and allow our
flag to be trashed, burned or used to propagate hate, but let's get real
before legislating taste, bad or good, however you may see it.

To anybody who thinks a pot plant in place of a maple leaf is making a
profound political statement, what have you been smoking? And to anybody
who wants to start playing politics with the flag, there's a fellow in
Newfoundland who'd probably like to buy you a shot of Screech.

B.H.