The world's longest waiting list? It'll take you 100 years to obtain this Canada flag
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Public Services and Procurement Canada says the wait list for a Peace Tower flag now extends more than 100 years.
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That means it's now vastly easier to land season's tickets to the Green Bay Packers (40-year wait) or Manchester United Football Club (25-year wait) than it is to secure a Maple Leaf flag from Parliament Hill.
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Winnipeg's Richard Dyrkacz, 41, applied for a flag in May – even after learning it will be the next century before one arrives in the mail. Dyrkacz thought the wait list might be 30 or 40 years, and was shocked to learn he's unlikely to see the day he can raise his Parliament Hill-flown flag.
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'Let's be honest, I probably will not live to 140,' he said in an interview. 'But I was thinking, 'If I have kids or grandkids, it will be a nice legacy that could be passed down to them.'
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'I'm proud to be a Canadian citizen, and I think it would be a really cool, symbolic gift to give that to your grandkids, or great-grandkids.'
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Earlier this year, the Canadian flag celebrated its 60th birthday: It was first raised atop the Peace Tower on Feb. 15, 1965.
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Then Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson marked the occasion – a symbolic graduation from British dominance – with a Parliament Hill speech.
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'Under this flag,' Pearson said, 'may our youth find new inspiration for loyalty to Canada, for patriotism based not on any mean or narrow nationalism, but on the deep and equal pride that all Canadians will feel for every part of this good land.'
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The red-and-white Maple Leaf replaced the Canadian Red Ensign, which featured the Union Jack and Canada's coat of arms.
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Pearson's speech also marked the end of a bitter, sometimes ugly debate over the design of the new flag, introduced as Canada approached its centennial. Conservative leader John Diefenbaker wanted the new flag to reflect Canada's British heritage, while Pearson argued for a forward-looking design that eschewed the country's colonial past and did not inflame Quebec nationalism.
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
China's fiery baijiu spirit evolves to attract younger drinkers
BEIJING (AP) — The centuries-old fiery Chinese spirit baijiu, long associated with business dinners, is being reshaped to appeal to younger generations as its makers adapt to changing times. Mostly distilled from sorghum, the clear but pungent liquor contains as much as 60% alcohol. It's the usual choice for toasts of 'gan bei,' the Chinese expression for bottoms up, and raucous drinking games. 'If you like to drink spirits and you've never had baijiu, it's kind of like eating noodles but you've never had spaghetti,' said Jim Boyce, a Canadian writer and wine expert who founded World Baijiu Day a decade ago. The annual event aims to promote the traditional liquor, which is far less known internationally than whiskey or vodka. Moutai, a kind of baijiu made in mountainous Guizhou province in southwestern China, is known as the country's 'national liquor.' Perhaps its biggest endorsement came in 1974, when U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger banqueted with Deng Xiaoping, who would later become China's top leader. 'I think if we drink enough Moutai, we can solve anything,' Kissinger said. 'Then, when I return to China, we must take steps to increase our production of it,' Deng replied, according to an archived document from the U.S. State Department's Office of the Historian. Price fluctuations of Feitian Moutai, the liquor's most famous brand, serve as a barometer for China's baijiu market. This year, its price has dropped by 36% after four consecutive years of decline, according a report by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association. The report forecast China's baijiu production will likely fall for the eighth straight year in 2025. Baijiu consumption has dropped as people spend more cautiously, cutting back on banquets and drinking due to a weaker economy. Perennial anti-corruption campaigns by the ruling Communist Party targeting lavish official dinners have taken a harsh toll. In May, the party issued new rules banning cigarettes and alcohol during work meals. China's drinking culture is evolving, with younger people keen to protect their health and less inclined to overindulge or be bound by rigid social conventions. Faced with far more choices, they might instead opt for whiskey, wine or non-alcoholic alternatives. 'There is an old saying in China: 'No banquet is complete without alcohol.' It means in the past, without alcohol there is no social lubricant,' 30-year-old Chi Bo said while having cocktails with friends in Beijing's chic Sanlitun area. 'People no longer want to drink alcohol or tend to drink less but they can still sit together and even discuss serious affairs,' Chi said. 'Most of the people don't want to drink alcohol unless they have to.' Baijiu makers are responding with creative innovations like baijiu-flavored ice cream. Kweichou Moutai partnered with China's Luckin' Coffee last year to introduce a Moutai-flavored latte that reportedly sells 5 million cups a day across China. Bartenders also are designing cocktails using a baijiu base. 'There are so many choices right now,' Boyce said. 'It's just about fighting for attention in terms of choice.' Jiangxiaobai, a newer brand made in southwestern China's Chongqing, has targeted young consumers from the beginning. It offers fruit-infused baijiu with an alcohol content below 10%, packaged in smaller, more affordable bottles adorned with philosophical or sentimental phrases meant to resonate with Chinese youth such as, 'Unspoken words. In my eyes, in drafts, in dreams, or downed in a drink.' 'Our promotion of products combines the culture and lifestyle young people advocate,' Jiangxiaobai marketing director Fan Li said. 'From our products to our branding, it's a process of embracing the younger generation.' Shirley Huang, out with friends on a Friday night in Sanlitun, said she had never touched baijiu at age 27, preferring cocktails. But that night, something new on the menu caught her attention: a baijiu-based cocktail. 'Baijiu is quietly making its way into our lives. We just haven't noticed,' she said 'It may not appear as itself, but it reemerges in new forms.' ___ Associated Press video producers Olivia Zhang and Wayne Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.
Montreal Gazette
3 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Trump signs executive order pushing tariffs on Canada to 35%
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order pushing tariffs on Canada to 35 per cent beginning on Friday, following through on a threat to raise duties if Ottawa didn't make a trade deal. The White House confirmed the tariffs would not hit goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, commonly known as CUSMA. A fact sheet from the White House said Canada 'failed to cooperate in curbing the ongoing flood of fentanyl' and also pointed to Ottawa's implementation of retaliatory tariffs. Canadian officials had been tempering expectations that a trade deal would materialize ahead of Trump's deadline and Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he'll only make an agreement that is good for Canada. Trump said earlier Thursday he had not 'spoken to Canada' but did reference that 'he's called' — suggesting Carney may have reached out hours before the 35 per cent tariff was set to hit. The Canadian Press has contacted Carney's office for confirmation but has not yet received a response. Ontario Premier Doug Ford posted on social media that 'Canada shouldn't settle for anything less than the right deal.' He repeated his call for the federal government to respond with a 50 per cent tariff on U.S. steel and aluminum. 'Now is not the time to roll over. We need to stand our ground,' Ford said. Trump dampened the prospect of a deal with Canada in a post on social media early Thursday morning that said it would be very hard to make a deal after Carney announced Wednesday that Ottawa intends to recognize a Palestinian state. Trump told reporters at the White House that he 'didn't like that' but that it was 'not a deal-breaker.' When asked about the holdup in Canadian negotiations, Trump said 'they have to pay a fair rate.' The president also misrepresented agricultural duties, complained about Canadian military spending and said Canada has been treating the United States badly for years. While Trump didn't mention fentanyl, the White House fact sheet focused on the drug to justify increasing the tariffs. 'Given Canada's continued failure to arrest traffickers, seize illicit drugs, or coordinate with U.S. law enforcement and Canada's retaliation against the United States for the President's actions to address the unusual and extraordinary threat to America, further presidential action is necessary and appropriate to protect American lives and the national security and foreign policy of the United States,' the White House said. U.S. government data shows a miniscule amount of fentanyl is seized at the border with Canada compared to Mexico. Ottawa responded to Trump's concerns of cross-border trafficking with a $1.3 billion boosted border plan. Ottawa appointed a 'fentanyl czar' and announced a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl trafficking and money laundering, and deployed additional helicopters and drones along the border. Trump announced a 90-day extension on trade talks for Mexico Thursday after a phone conversation with President Claudia Sheinbaum. He said it was because the 'complexities of a Deal with Mexico are somewhat different than other Nations because of both the problems, and assets, of the Border.' 'Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,' Trump said. In a separate executive order Thursday Trump increased his so-called 'Liberation Day' tariffs on many other nations, with those duties to be implemented in seven days. The order applied to 68 countries, as well as the 27-member European Union, which negotiated its new tariff rate in a deal announced earlier in the week. Countries that were not listed would face a baseline 10 per cent tariff. While Trump continued to claim in posts on social media that tariffs are making 'America GREAT & RICH Again,' the president's main tool for realigning global trade faced some sharp questions from federal appellate judges in court earlier Thursday. The Trump administration's lawyer argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that there are still checks and balances on the president's powers and he has the authority to use a national security statute to impose duties — despite the fact that the word 'tariff' is found nowhere in the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977. The act, usually referred to by the acronym IEEPA, gives the U.S. president authority to control economic transactions after declaring an emergency. No previous president had ever used it for tariffs and the U.S. Constitution reserves power over taxes and tariffs for Congress. Members of the 11-judge panel on Thursday repeatedly questioned the Trump's administration's justifications for using IEEPA to implement the so-called 'Liberation Day' and fentanyl-related tariffs 'If the president says there's a problem with our military readiness and he puts a 20 per cent tax on coffee, that doesn't seem to necessarily deal with (it)' said Chief Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore. No decision was issued from the bench Thursday and a White House spokesperson has said the case is expected to go before the Supreme Court.
Vancouver Sun
4 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: Choosing a distinctly Canadian adventure in place of a planned trip to the U.S.
Last week I learned my upcoming family vacation to trace our early French-Canadian roots in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is 'mean and nasty,' according to the bully down south. You see, I'm 11th-generation Canadian and chose this adventure now because our original plans for New York are a no-go. My family, like many Canadians, has decided to spend our hard-earned toonies in support of our country. While proud of Americans buying American, the White House is name-calling Canadians for buying Canadian. When I saw this in the news, all I could do was roll my eyes. What nonsense. We don't like being bullied and threatened, hearing that our lakes and rivers are a 'faucet' or having our entire country trivialized. But it's not the bully, it's we who are the problem. Classic. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The U.S. ambassador to Canada, while speaking at an annual gathering where Pacific Northwest provincial and state governments collaborate for mutual economic benefit, said the president thinks Canadians are 'mean and nasty.' His words and divisive sentiments went over like a lead balloon. Needless to say, this guy is clearly following Trump's orders on international capitulation rather than fulfilling the role of an ambassador supporting international co-operation. I doubt that anyone south of the 49th really thinks Canadians are going to offer our beloved 'sorry' for buying Canadian now that Trump has added name-calling to his repertoire for antagonizing us. As premiers and other Canadian leaders have pointed out, we'll take the names in stride, have a laugh and continue on our proud and mighty Canadian roads and transactions with elbows up a little higher. That's certainly what my family is doing. We can't wait to explore Canada and our ancestry more. Lucky for us, my aunt did a lot of research a few decades ago, so we know many of the churches where ancestors were baptized, married and buried. After enjoying poutine, smoked meat sandwiches and Cirque du Soleil in Montreal, we're renting a car so we can stop at those churches and communities on our way to la belle ville de Québec. The history in Québec will keep us busy for several days. The kids want to go to some of the iconic places they've seen in their children's books about Canada. I'm eager to see the Assemblée nationale de Québec. My husband has the Plains of Abraham on his list. From there, we're on the road to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. We'll stop to see the giant lobster in Shediac, but topping our must-sees is Acadian culture. In my aunt's research, she scouted out the area where our Acadian ancestors settled in the 1630s and '40s. After crossing the Atlantic, six-year-old Jeanne Trahan grew up in Port Royal, now Annapolis Royal. As a young mother, she built her home with her husband, Jacques Bourgeois, in an area that became the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia over a century later. In that century, my family traded with the Mi'kmaq and repeatedly turned Bostonian raiders into traders. Along with their Indigenous neighbours, Acadians had to first protect themselves from those raiders, but regularly, the bounty from trade and co-operation tamped down the aggression (perhaps Trump should take note here). Then in 1755, as one of the first acts of the Seven Years War between the French and English Crowns, the British rounded up my ancestors onto ships and deported them along with about 7,000 other Acadians to the 13 Colonies, the very places that would form the first United States of America. Some fled to the forest where their Mi'kmaq friends provided refuge and guided them to safety, other relatives stayed in the Colonies and became Americans after the Revolutionary War, and some went to the Louisiana Bayou, forming what is now Cajun culture. My direct line made their way back to Canada 20 years after the deportation. In those two decades, members of my family lost their communities, livelihoods, were forced into indentured servitude, were raped, and grieved missing and deceased children. Upon their return to Canada, it's incredible that they moved past vengeance in favour of building a peaceful bond across borders for the betterment of all. Future generations worked in the U.S. and travelled freely over the border to see friends and family. Records even show that one of my great-great-great uncles, l'oncle Joe Bourgeois, enlisted for the North in the American Civil War before finding life as a trader with Indigenous Peoples, ultimately making his way to Ktunaxa and Sinixt territories and a new city called Nelson in B.C. Tracing the places where my ancestors lived their lives isn't only interesting and a great way to spend a vacation, it also gives me and my children pride in being Canadian. Far from 'mean and nasty,' our history shows us that Canadians, from First Nations to new immigrants, are strong, resilient and resourceful. We are proud of who we are and what we bring to this world. We're not perfect, and we do apologize for that. But we're not going to apologize for standing up for ourselves and what is right in the search for peace. Like all bullies and their enablers, the current U.S. president and his ambassador to Canada don't get that. The day will come when they are no longer in power, like it has for others before, and when it does Canadians will still be Canadian, and we will have spent a lot of money in Canada. Michelle Mungall was a B.C. cabinet minister from 2017 to 2020. She is now an adviser in the energy industry and is writing her memoir, Minister Mom.
