to ces & tom, unfortunately carol is not alone in her opinion. just this year the premier of one of our provinces had the audacity to call the maple leaf a 'red rag'. he later
"apologized" and said that he had been misunderstood. there was some debate about the appropriateness of such a comment but he is still premier and likely the issue will be forgotten by the next election.

since Canadians have only had a flag of their own for 38 years- after flying the Union Jack for almost 100 years; since we don't have a story like that of betsy ross(i hope i have the correct name)sewing the first flag, and since we don't have a pledge of allegiance some individuals in this country do not hold any particular reverence for our flag.
as a child i was taught that the flag was raised at sunrise and lowered by sunset. these days schools and government offices leave it flying 24 hours a day-union rules or cost cutting i am sure would be the explanation. but not for one second do i think that this lack of reverence by some could be turned into a willingness to desecrate a nation's flag by anymore than just a miiscule percentage of Canadians.