I’d been wanting to get a Canadian flag for some time. Just in case anyone had any doubt about where I stand on becoming the 51st State, I was and am determined to make it crystal clear in every way possible. The answer is NO. On the day before Valentine’s Day, I finally decided, cold notwithstanding, I was Going To Make This Happen. It was not, specifically, because Flag Day (annually on Feb. 15; this was the 60th anniversary of the Maple Leaf flag) was looming, but I’m still glad I pulled it off before then. Before I went out searching for my flag, I did a wee bit of research. I wanted to buy a Canadian made flag from a Saskatoon-owned store, if at all possible.

My recent mantra, in case anyone has missed it, is to buy local, buy provincial, buy national. This would tick all the boxes. I found The Flag Shop at 309B 33rd Street, called ahead to ask a few questions, and off I went. The shop celebrated its 25th anniversary last May, by the way. In addition to buying a flag and two pins (one a Maple Leaf, one that entwines the Canadian and Ukrainian flags), I spoke to the owner. I was so curious about how business was going, in light of this welcome surge of Canadian patriotism, I interviewed her.

 Judy Denham (of the Denham Awning family) told me that the day before, she had sold more flags than in the entire previous week. “We doubled, tripled our sales from last week all in one day,” she said with a laugh. “The whole flying of a Canada flag thing didn’t start until this week. People are certainly talking about what’s happening in North America, even before the inauguration (of Donald Trump in the U.S.). “When the five retired prime ministers made their comment, or put the plea out, to Canadians that we should be flying the Canada flag, that’s when things really started going crazy here.”

Just to recap, Canada’s five living former PMs, Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, jointly wrote an open letter asking Canadians to “show the flag as never before” as the country contends with “threats and insults from Donald Trump.” “Let’s fly our flag with pride. Let’s show the world that we are proud of our history and proud of our country,” they wrote. That plea landed on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Wednesday morning at The Flag Shop, “the phone started going crazy. We unlocked the door and already had customers coming in. It’s minus whatever in Saskatchewan and here we have customers first thing in the morning.”

Indeed, while I was there, the phone rang pretty much non-stop and several customers came in, as well. “It looks like Canadians have really taken hold of that, because all The Flag Shops across Canada (it’s a franchise name) have been super busy,” Denham said. February is usually a very slow month, she noted. Business tends to pop in April, and the shop is often busy with institutional sales from schools, municipalities, churches, that sort of thing. “This is very different for us to be so busy in February. Yes, it has a little bit to do with the fact that it’s Flag Day, but it has more to do with the fact that our country is experiencing some unsettledness.”

Canadians are “pretty shy” about being too “flamboyant” about their patriotism, she said, but the current threat from the south has hit home. “Now it’s time,” she said. “We need to stand up. We need to be unified. We need to show we are Canadians, we are proud Canadians, and that’s how we want to stay.” I’m maybe a little embarrassed to admit that I teared up when she said that last thing. FYI, it is not great form to cry when you’re doing an interview. But there it was. She was very kind and understanding about it, noting that other people have become emotional around the flag conversation. It’s important to note that Canadians are taking their flag back, after it was used for a different political purpose during the Freedom Convoy days. It’s not just okay but important to embrace it now.

And now I have a Canadian flag strapped to the railing of our front porch. I wish, looking at it now, that I had purchased a bigger one, but in my defence, it’s hard to envision while you’re in the shop: that flag looked pretty big. So just saying, we don’t have to fly flags only on Flag Day. Should you decide to get your own flag

– Joanne Paulson