Convoy, federal government have shifted some people's perspectives on the Canadian flag: survey

The Canadian flag has been wrapped around Olympic athletes, pinned on the lapels of new Canadians as they took their citizenship oaths and stitched on backpacks as young Canadians head out into the world.

As with all flags, it represents the country and what it stands for. But in recent years, some people's perspectives on that meaning have shifted.

From the discovery of potential unmarked graves at former residential schools sites, to the ever present Canadian flags on trucks during the freedom convoy protests, the concepts of patriotism and Canadian identity have changed for some people. Some find it problematic, while others are more proud to be Canadian than they have ever been.

A recent survey done by The Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research (CHASR) at the University of Saskatchewan, in partnership with CBC Saskatchewan, found that the vast majority — almost 80 per cent — of respondents think favourably of the Canadian flag. However, one-third of the respondents said their stance had changed one way or the other in recent years.

CBC Saskatchwan's phone-in show radio show Blue Sky featured a discussion on the Canadian flag this week. Guests and callers spoke with host Garth Materie about what the flag means to them.

Kerry Benjoe, a journalist and editor at Eagle Feather News who attended the last residential school in Canada in Lebret, Sask., said her feelings toward the flag and Canada as a whole have changed in recent years.

"Right after the discovery at Kamloops, I was at my daughter's graduation and they allowed for a moment of silence for the children that didn't make it home from residential school. And right after that they played O Canada," Benjoe said. 

"They had these images of beautiful Canada on the screen, and at that moment I sat down, because it just brought home the reality that that is the Canada everybody else gets to enjoy."

Marcel Halle, a military veteran, said he is a proud Canadian who has worn the Canadian flag on his uniform every day at work. 

Halle was in Ottawa during the freedom convoy demonstrations. 

"When you'd see the Canadian flag flying [on trucks], it just brought a real angry feeling and it was unnatural and I thought geez, how can I be angry at the Canadian flag," he said. "It was a really unfortunate sentiment."

Almost a quarter of respondents to the CHASR survey said their feelings about the flag had changed negatively. They were then asked why that was the case.

Approximately two-thirds of the people whose views had changed negatively expressed that the freedom convoy movement was hijacking or co-opting the flag, and that its stances were inconsistent with their personal views and understanding of what Canada represents.

Meanwhile, 15 per cent of them said they feel the current federal government is embarrassing or doesn't represent their values.