Canadian flag just another handy prop for our thespian PM

Nothing is sacred anymore. Not when our prime minister's on his prowl, intent on displaying to anyone still missing the message that he is indeed a man apart when judging moral superiority.

Not even Remembrance Day escaped his vast net. It too was reeled in, almost by accident, it must be admitted, in his endless hunt to find yet another stage on which to grandstand and thereby display that, when it comes to being woke, he's an individual who does not sleep.

Once upon a time, in a country that seems so far away, we collectively judged a minute's silence on Nov. 11 suitably appropriate to show we hadn't forgotten those Canadians who gave their lives, limbs and innocence for a cause the country deemed just.

On that day at least, we'd show respect for such courage and commitment by standing quietly while perhaps mouthing those famous lines from that Robert Laurence Binyon poem, For the Fallen. You know, the ones containing a commitment about how, with the going down of the sun and in the morning, we would remember them.

Well, this year those words seemed more apt as part of the script in a Charlie Chaplin movie than as a reference to our war dead, as we were left scrambling to raise our national flag, as the sun went figuratively down, just in time to lower it again in remembered tribute.

This farce comes courtesy of Trudeau's move to keep our national symbol lowered at halfmast indefinitely until, in his words, “we have worked enough with Indigenous communities and leadership to make a clear determination that it was time to raise them again and continue the hard work of reconciliation.”

Anyone with even a jot of empathy would have immediately recognized the dreadful dilemma such a move would quickly provide.

How could we ever show respect for anything or anyone ever again if Maple Leafs across the country were already lowered, while reneging on such a commitment risked further dividing this country on its most grievous issue?

Ah, but such worries were for lesser mortals. This was a moment for our prime minister to once again step forth as a man for whom every issue is simply a plaything for his vanity, another chance to strut the boards of the vast theatre that is Canada, like the great actor he was always destined to be.

This permanently lowered-flags debacle followed the naming of Sept. 30 as a day for truth and reconciliation. Of course, a sensible decision would have been to use that day as a time, each year, for such national solemnity and to have lowered the symbol of our country for 24 hours to mark such soul searching.

But there was a federal election campaign underway and Trudeau, once again, couldn't resist the urge to overplay the emotional issue he was handed on a platter. Such an opportunity was far too delicious for him to forgo: ergo our flag would be lowered forever if necessary.

Thankfully there remain enough sensible and decent people in this country that a compromise was arrived upon prior to Remembrance Day, and Maple Leafs were raised once again before it was time to lower them. If it wasn't so overwhelmingly sad, you could be tempted to laugh at the utter absurdity of such needless emotional turmoil for veterans, Indigenous folk and anyone with an ounce of decency.

So, it has now been decided the flags, raised after Thursday's Remembrance Day services, are to remain at full mast as their standard position once more.

The self-imposed problem may be resolved but more damage was done. Another slice of our heritage soured for no other reason than scoring some vague moral points on the eve of an equally needless election campaign.

Oh well, Trudeau had already moved on long before the flag issue fluttered into his purview. Yep, all the way to Tofino for a spot of surfing, leaving Canada once again trailing in his wake.