Canadians celebrate National Flag Day across B.C.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the red and white maple leaf flag representing Canada.

A sense of patriotism is sweeping across the country amid a looming trade war between the U.S. and Canada. And Canadians have a clear message for U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Now is the time for Canada to have those trading relationships, to ensure that we’re buying Canadian, that we’re building Canada, and we’re building a stronger economy,” said New Westminster–Burnaby MP Peter Julian.

“So, on this Flag Day, we are saying to Donald Trump, we will never be the 51st state.”

Now more people are choosing to purchase and fly their own Canadian flag.

At Flying Colours International in Port Coquitlam staff say Canada flag sales have quadrupled in recent days.

“The phones have been ringing off the hook and people have been coming into the store. One of the neat things to see is that people that maybe have not had a Canada flag before, that are now coming in to buy one,” said Julia Izadi of Flying Colours.

“Normally, this time of year, we’re preparing for Canada Day in July, so we were not expecting that. But thank goodness we do stock and manufacture flags here, so we were able to really respond quickly.”

Meanwhile, a group of proud Canadians found a different way to showcase their patriotism just north of Kelowna by shovelling a massive Canada Flag on top of Ellison Lake.