Re: [IRCA] OT: Diefenbaker and now the Maple Leaf

["Mike Brooker" <aum108@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
> Canada's Maple Leaf is one of the most beautiful flags ever invented, and
> it fits Canada to a "T".

It was "invented" by a committee consisting mostly of Liberal Party hacks. 
No coincidence that red and white have been the Liberal Party colours for 
decades.  The basic design was plagiarized from the Peruvian flag, replacing 
Peru's coat of arms with the maple leaf.  The design of the maple leaf must 
have looked way modern in the mid-1960s, but is now quite dated.  Why not a 
botanically-correct maple leaf, like on the Toronto Maple Leafs Original 
Six-era jerseys?

A better design would have been the "Pearson Pennant", favoured by Lester 
Pearson, who was Prime Minister at the time of the flag debate, Canada's 
centennial year, and likely the last-ever Leafs Stanley Cup.  It had three 
maple leaves joined together and blue bars instead of red.  The blue would 
at least be symbolic of Canada's motto Ad Mare Usque Ad Mare (from sea to 
sea), and the three maple leaves would represent the three founding peoples 
(British, French, Aboriginal/native).

Not to mention that the Red Ensign was good enough to die for in two World 
Wars and Korea to boot.  That should have been reason enough for keeping it 
(though the same could also be said about the 48-star U.S. flag, and there 
was no question about whether to add two new stars for AK and HI in 1959).

>
> Do me a real favor, Mike: Point me to the lyrics of "The Maple Leaf
> Forever." If there isn't anything offensive in there, it ought to be
> Canada's "Other" national anthem.
>

http://www.canadafirst.net/maple_leaf_forever/index.html
Scroll halfway down this page and you will find the lyrics, and a click-on 
MIDI version of the Maple Leaf Forever, along with some information on why 
the Red Ensign should still be Canada's flag.

Nothing offensive about the song, unless your'e from Quebec.

<7th grade Canadian history lesson>
"Wolfe the dauntless hero" was the British general who defeated the French 
army on the Plains of Abraham (Quebec City), thereby "planting firm 
Britannia's flag on Canada's fair domain" (i.e. claiming Quebec for the 
British Empire)
"Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane" are War of 1812 battle sites, from the 
last time the Canada-U.S. rivalry turned into a shooting war.
</7th grade Canadian history lesson>

I also like the Maple Leaf Forever.  They used to play it at Leafs games 
when the Leafs took the ice at the start of the game and when they scored 
goals, back in the days when they played at Maple Leaf Gardens and they had 
a live organist rather than canned jackhammer music such as Gary (doing hard 
time in a Vietnamese jail) Glitter's "Rock and Roll".


73

Mike Brooker
Toronto, ON 

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