Raise the national flag, wave it with pride
My family fought in the War of 1812 in the Niagara Militia side-by-side with the British and the First Nations to defend Canada from U.S. invasion, but here I am 200 years later defending Canada from the incursion of extremist U.S. ideology. Are the Fenians raiding again?
Canadians, take back the flag! The current movement for people removing their Canada flag as they are fearful of being associated with the so-called freedom movement needs to be addressed.
As long as you’re not flying a Canada flag on a hockey stick taped to a pickup truck covered in messaging, wearing a plaid shirt, and doing circles around the legislature honking a horn, you’re not likely to be associated with this troubled group.
So a flag on a home, a business, or a government building continues to show pride in Canada.
I fear the protesters will continue their appropriation of the Canada flag for some time, and this is doing serious damage to national pride leading up to B.C.’s reopening and Canada Day celebrations.
Last summer’s excessive duration of half-masting initiated the idea of the flag’s symbolism being used for other messaging and has contributed to this current situation.
Most importantly, the storming of the U.S. Capitol was a critical event that saw a radicalized movement use the flag to disguise itself.
Join me and again hoist proudly a B.C. or Canada flag.
Paul Servos, owner
The Flag Shop
Victoria
A child’s guide to Justin Trudeau
Mommy and daddy, I want to be just like Justin Trudeau.
That is wonderful dear, and what is the first thing you will do to be like him … apologize for all the bad things that children a hundred years ago did?
Oh no mommy and daddy, I want to tell the other kids that the children of certain truck drivers hold unacceptable views, and that gives me the right to put their piggy banks in the freezer.
Have you ever talked to the truck drivers’ children?
No mommy and daddy I haven’t, but one of them was wearing a raccoon mask and carrying sign with a weird symbol, so they must all be awful children.
What if the other kids don’t believe you?
Well mommy and daddy, by the time I call the truck drivers’ children racist, transphobic and misogynistic, all the other kids will line up on my side of the playground, because they won’t want to be thought of as racist, transphobic or misogynistic.
Do you think the other kids will be that gullible?
Yes, mommy and daddy I do, because I am very good-looking and at times very gracious.
Martha McNeely
Oak Bay
Following the science through the convoy
I have closely followed the recent demonstrations in Ottawa with interest and concern.
Have we unwittingly witnessed a socio/medical experiment?
Early in the protests we saw thousands of people gathering in close quarters and protesting a number of issues. Many of them dispersed within a few days, leaving the hardcore to settle in for the long haul. They parked their trucks, set up food and fuel supplies, bouncy castles and recreational events.
Safe to say that many of them were unvaccinated and unmasked. In other words, based on the current narrative, they were likely to spread COVID and were thus a threat to society.
However, neither government nor the media have reported any elevated spikes in the incidence of COVID cases amongst those that attended the demonstrations. Should I conclude that the unvaccinated and unmasked people are not as dangerous as some would believe?
A.G. Macpherson
Victoria
Not feeling pride in the Canadian flag
I was never so proud to be a Canadian as when I cycled from Mile Zero in Victoria to Mile Zero in St. John’s in 2008. Every kilometre I felt what it was like to be in that place and to experience the hardships many fellow Canadians were living.
I carried that pride as a Canadian cycling through several countries in Asia and many more in Europe. I knew how lucky I was to live in a country where my fellow Canadians had not had a war on their doorstep.
I was proud as our Olympians, after years of unbelievable time and energy put into honing their skills, vied for personal bests or medals in Beijing.
Now I have mixed feelings about our flag. I see it draped over shoulders of people who have not experienced living in a war zone or a previous war zone; I see it flown from trucks and cars whose owners think it’s “Canadian” to blow their horns.
What freedoms are they demanding? They have choices; they just have to live with the consequences of those choices. Any child could tell them about that.
I don’t know when I’ll see the flag as something I am proud of. Right now, in these times, I feel anger towards it as it is being flown by people I don’t consider good citizens.
Yvonne McLean
Victoria
Are responsibilities still being taught?
Does the recent truckers’ protest, with its hangers-on, display the inevitable result of emphasizing constitutional rights over civic responsibility? Are the chickens coming home to roost?
I am told by teachers that, for decades, we have not taught civics and civic responsibilities in our schools, but we have always promoted constitutional rights in our discourse.
The result is on display — recent generations of Canadians now expect their constitutional rights to be respected, without the understanding that they must be tempered by civic responsibilities.
Perhaps that is why my baby boomer generation is fed up with politicians’ refusal to deal decisively with protests that go beyond the pale (do younger people understand that concept?).
Roger Love
Victoria
We are all made richer by these donations
Re: “University slammed for naming school after ‘another old white guy,’ ” Feb. 20.
The article regarding a member of the Canim Lake Band, Coun. Carl Archie, speaking out about his displeasure at Thompson Rivers University naming its business school after another “old white guy” not only is racist and ageist, but lacks understanding on how institutions of higher learning fund themselves.
Although the provincial governments in Canada are responsible for partial funding of these institutions, they also rely on student tuition, foreign student tuition and philanthropy. Without generous philanthropy by donors, many universities in Canada and elsewhere in the world would have far less to offer their students and communities.
I imagine the Indigenous communities that live in that area are grateful to have this institution available to them for the possibilities it offers to their people.
Canada is a diverse, multicultural country with many people having come here for a better life, which includes higher education. Without these educational institutions and opportunities, Canada would be the poorer for it.
It is standard procedure with any university to name something after the person who has made a large donation. Bob Gaglardi does not deserve derision and shame for his generous donation, and the university is within their right to name the school after him.
Cynthia Brunt
North Saanich
Seniors need a raise in their supplement
A well-crafted cartoon can pack a powerful punch, revealing ugly realities with clarity and urgency.
Adrian Raeside’s recent cartoon brings awareness to the destitute circumstances of many low-income seniors trying to survive on poverty-level federal pensions. Thank you, Raeside, for reinforcing the message that our lives matter too.
A common misconception is that the average senior is living a charmed, affluent life. Nothing could be further from the truth.
According to the B.C. Seniors Report Card (by Sparc B.C. and United Way): “In 2016, almost one in five seniors (65+ years old) in British Columbia reported housing affordability challenges.”
The number of senior households on B.C. Housing’s applicant registry increased 58.7 per cent from 2012 to 2017. In 2015, 20.3 per cent of seniors in Richmond lived in poverty. Statistics from the B.C. Seniors Advocate are shocking: Half of B.C. seniors live on $24,000 per year or less.
As people faced skyrocketing food prices during January, low-income seniors were also slammed with a five-week wait for their federal OAS payments and the B.C. Seniors’ Supplement. These inhumane measures by B.C. and Ottawa were totally avoidable.
There should be an immediate $200 increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement across the board by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In these precarious COVID times, it is a no-brainer.
Doreen Marion Gee
Victoria
Ban short-term rentals to ease the crunch
For far too long, rampant growth of short-term rentals from the likes of Airbnb and VRBO have cannibalised long-term rental units while pushing up the cost of the remaining units on the market.
It has contributed to the commodification and inflation of real estate markets, and turned residentially zoned properties into commercial money-making entities. This needs to stop now.
The provincial government, or better yet the federal government, need to ban all short-term rentals. This profiteering off housing should never have been allowed and is contributing to the destruction of affordable housing and the displacement of residents for tourists.
While there are certainly other factors at play in the current housing crisis, the effects of short-term rentals should not be ignored, and inaction on this will only continue to worsen the current crisis we face.
Ethan Smith
Victoria
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