Flags

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There's been something of an uptick in patriotism/nationalism in Canada under Dear Leader Harper. There's a lot of stuff about Canada being "the best country in the world" (incessantly parroted by the Tories), symbolic displays of nationalism and promotion of nationalist themes. The most egregious example being the government's (inadvertently hilarious) War of 1812 remembrance campaign, which consisted largely of nationalist myths and historical misrepresentations. For slightly less symbolic displays, there's the heavy promotion of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic and "Canada's North" which I find somewhat disturbing or annoying.

In Ottawa/Ontario, there are a lot of Canadian flags, obviously on all public/federal buildings, public schools and other public spaces but also many private houses/businesses. Playing O Canada at the beginning of every sport event is universal and they played O Canada at the beginning of every school day in high school. In obvious contrast, Canadian flags in Quebec indicate (a) something owned by the federal government or (b) federalists. The provincial flag is obviously far more widespread in Quebec and contrasts with Ottawa, where the ugly provincial flag is very rarely seen.