It's not really about the flag

Jeff Green | Feb 26, 2025

I understand why a lot of people get angry when they see american flags flying in canadian public space these days,

Not only is the President of the United States threatening to levy tariffs on all canadian imports, based on ever shifting pack of lies and misconstrued facts, but he continues to speculate about using economic pressure to abandon its sovereignty in order to secure access to the US market.

And whatever people feel about our soon to be former Prime Minister, when a world leader calles our head of state “Governor Trudeau” it is an insult to all of us.

And there hasn't exactly been an outcry by the American public against the new “humiliate Canada” policy that is being pursued by the President and his entourage.

The flag that is up at the Sharbot Lake Beach, which has been the focus of concern locally, was installed as an acknowledgement of the role played by US based cottage owners and annual visitors to local resorts in the development of the communities in North and Central Frontenac.

Many of these visitors have been coming up to the area for generations, and they pay taxes, spend money while they are here, and have developed local ties over the years. They were not our enemies last year, and they are not our enemies this year either.

This is just to say there are reasonable arguments to pull the flag down, or keep it up.

The entire debate is based on the fact that the President of the United States is in our heads, and that is what we must resist.

While the United States now represents a huge threat to vulnerable people around the world, especially in places like Gaza, the Ukraine and Central America, Canada has some resources at its disposal, and one of them is time.

What happens on March 7, or April 7^th, will have an impact on our daily lives. It could hurt our income, it could also raise prices. It could easily make many of us who feel we are in a secure financial strate and turn that on its head. And for those of us who are already struggling, it could put us in dire straits.

But we are a wealthy country and we have the means to relatiate.

Things will change in the United States, and it may take six months, or a year, or two years, but the American population will have to reckon with their President and he will have to reckon with them at some time or another, and the energy required to pressure Canada and its economy could easily fall by the wayside.

Ultimately, Canada will be alright. The global world order may not have it so easy.

And, even if the word climate has been banned by the US government, it hasn't gone away, and the long term damage that will result from the folly down south at a point when planetary warming has already reached a tipping point is something that time will also heal, but not for a few hundred or a few thousand years.