It was a typical Wednesday morning in February. First block had ticked slowly by, the silent reading bell had rung, when all of a sudden, the PA crackled to life. It blared an announcement about Canada’s flag – it was National Flag Day. The announcement ended with the singing of O Canada led by Abigail Henick. I knew what was happening, as it was during my English 12 class with Ms. Eisner that the celebration was planned, but for the rest of the school it must have come as quite a surprise.
It all started with the poem “Canada: Case History” by Earle Birney, in which Canada is personified as a teenage boy. The poem describes Canada as having a “gangling presence”, which started the discussion about how Canadians on the West Coast really do not know what life is like in the North or on the East Coast. The class soon devolved into talk about how much we actually knew about Canada. Questions soon followed about when different provinces joined Canada, which led to the question “When was Canada’s new flag created?” After multiple random guesses, someone grabbed their phone and went to Google. It was discovered that the following Wednesday was National Flag Day, and as we discussed how it was something we didn’t celebrate, an idea was taking hold in Ms. Eisner’s mind.
She had decided that at the very least we should sing the National Anthem, until a student made a suggestion about the small Canadian flags and pins that were often handed out at celebrations. Monisha Kumar, a fellow student, managed to get BC flags and Canadian flag pins at the constituency office of Harjit Sajjan, so that they could be handed out during lunch break on February 15th. Students Rhythm Jethi and Amrita Singh manned the booth, handing out flags and pins to curious students. The patriotism of David Thompson students seemed to come alive.
This entire event has shown me how much we take for granted as Canadians. We enjoy the freedom and privileges we have in Canada, and yet the majority of us don’t even know that there’s a day that celebrates our flag – the most significant symbol of being a Canadian. Rhythm and Amrita both said they would have had no idea that it was National Flag Day if our festivities weren’t organized. Standing up and singing the national anthem of our country with my fellow classmates in our classroom was a new experience, and one that I hope will become a long standing school tradition every February 15th.
By: Danica Wilmink
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