I have learned, from the Temiscaming Quebec Facebook page (Temiscaming is my hometown) that, in recent days, the Town of Temiscaming has been removing the Canadian flag from atop a nearby cliff. My understanding is that this has happened twice. It sounds as if some patriotic Canadian has twice placed a flag up there only to have it taken down by Town staff. If that isn’t bad enough, someone, now living in Quebec City and a self proclaimed atheist and member of a Communist organization (according to his Facebook page) has posted, in French, some very disparaging remarks about the Canadian flag and those that choose to fly it.
Here is my post in response to this issue:
I was born in Temiscaming, Quebec in 1948. Most of my boyhood friends were French while I was English. I treasure those friendships even today, over 50 years later. Back then, we didn’t talk about whether someone was French or English nor did we ever consider ourselves other than Canadian. My Dad,who spoke English, and many others from Temsicaming, who spoke French, went to war for us. They fought and died for all of us so that we could enjoy the freedoms of today. Yes, to even be able to publicly renounce Canada’s flag, the symbol of Canada’s unity and for which many armed forces personnel from Quebec continue to defend to this day. Although I no longer live in Temiscaming, it remains in my blood. That became abundantly clear to me when I attended a Temiscaming reunion last September in Gatineau. I am deeply saddened by this turn of events in Temiscaming and, as Rheal LeSieur mentioned in a previous post, the timing of this could not be worse coming up to Remembrance Day, in my opinion. I invite you to look at my profile picture to see one of the proudest memories I have of my Dad, that being the medals of honour he earned for defending the right of ALL Canadians to live in peace and harmony. In conclusion, I will tell you this: I will always look at Quebecers as special and unique Canadians……but make no mistake, in my eyes they will ALWAYS be Canadian. Vive Le Canada !
The photo below, posted by Perry Davidson on the Temiscaming page says it all, I think! Thanks Perry.
Life Unfolding 