A Petition Is Calling To Change Ontario’s Flag To Be ‘Truly Representative Of All Of Us’
"The best flags are distinct and inclusive. Ontario's is neither."
An online petition says Ontario's provincial flag does not represent its people.
"The best flags are distinct and inclusive. Ontario's is neither," wrote the petition's organizer, Mano Majumdar. "This petition calls on the Ontario legislature to replace the provincial flag with a more distinct and inclusive flag, chosen by democratic means."
According to Global News, Majumdar is a lecturer at Western University's Ivey Business School and launched the petition on Canada Day.
"We have a lot of words being spoken about reconciliation and inclusion," said Majumdar in an interview on London Live with 980 CFPL. "If we're not even able to take this one minor step towards making a symbolic commitment to actually having a different society, then [...] we have no credibility when we talk about reconciliation or inclusion."
"No single act can stand against more than a hundred and fifty years of erasure and exclusion, but ensuring that our shared symbols are truly representative of all of us is a necessary, visible, and concrete step in the right direction," says the petition.
According to the provincial government, the flag was adopted in 1965 and looks very similar to the Canadian Red Ensign, a combination of the Union Jack and the shield of Canada.
The petition currently has over 700 signatures at the time of publication, nearing its goal of 1,000.