Red Ensign at Vimy Memorial

[Bruce MacMillan]

From the Maple Ridge Times newspaper today, an old friend of Geoff's wins a long fight.

Close ties to an old, forgotten flag

By Jennifer Moreau

Out of the basement of his Maple Ridge home, Bill Bishop has been leading a 10-year campaign to have the Canada's former unofficial flag - the Red Ensign (pictured) - recognized, respected and flown over military monuments. With the Conservative government's latest announcement the flag will fly over the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, Bishop has earned himself a bit of a victory.

It all started in 1997 when Bishop went to visit the grave of his grandfather, a First World War veteran. Bishop was upset by what he saw in the military section of Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.

"It was pathetic," he says. Headstones were sunken, overgrown with bushes and so dirty the names were illegible. The then 36-year-old maintenance worker took his pressure washer down to the cemetery and started cleaning off the stones.

Bishop's attitude was simple: "That's my grandfather's grave and these are probably some of his buddies," he says gesturing to the ground while retelling a confrontation over the stones. Some were upset because he drew attention to the cemetery's neglect, Bishop says.

During the cleaning episode, Bishop noticed a rather naked-looking flagpole in the cemetery. Sure, there was the official Maple Leaf flag in the centre but the side poles that used to hold the Union Jack and the Canadian Red Ensign were bare. Bishop lobbied Veterans' Affairs Canada and local veterans' groups, trying to get the old flags back up with no success. A little while later, a single staff replaced the pole with the sidearms. Bishop says he felt they were against his move to put the old flags up.

With a fire in his belly, Bishop began a decade-long fight, one that would cost thousands of dollars and countless hours of his time.

He printed and distributed more than 20,000 ensign stickers and about 1,000 Red Ensign flags. He's written thousands of letters to veterans' groups, politicians, and prime ministers, advocating the flag's return. He has boxes of letters written in response. Over the years Bishop's campaign led to an informal network of other ensign aficionados.

"A lot of people would think I'm crazy. My wife thinks I'm crazy," he says. "Honestly, it was kind of fun."

Bishop says the flag's resurrection is about respect and acknowledgment. The Red Ensign may not have been Canada's official flag, but thousands of soldiers fought and died under one form or another during the First and Second World Wars.

The flag has emotional significance for veterans, he says.

"It's a really important part of our heritage," Bishop says sitting in the shade of the gazebo next to the Maple Ridge cenotaph. "It meant something to somebody. It's supposed to mean something."

Unofficial use of the Canadian Red Ensign dates back to the 1860s and by 1892 it was the official flag on Canadian vessels. The Red Ensign had a brief stint over the parliament buildings until the Union Jack replaced it in 1904. During the First World War, the Union Jack was Canada's official flag, but Bishop maintains the Red Ensign was also used.

Bishop recalls the divisive debate in 1965 after Liberal Prime Minister Lester Pearson made an election promise that Canadians would get an official and distinct flag while former Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker lobbied to keep the Red Ensign. Months later a special committee decided the Maple Leaf version would replace the temporary British-linked ensign, providing a symbolic identity that included all Canadians, particularly the French.

"A lot of people don't realize how much of debate there was and how many people love our old flag," he says. "Some people really love it. Some people really hate it. Some people couldn't give a rat's ass."

Bishop says when Canada flew the Union Jack, the Red Ensign used to be to Canadians what the Maple Leaf flag was to Pearson: an assertion of independent national identity. But over the years the Red Ensign has been taken up by British loyalists, some veterans, and even Paul Fromm, an active supporter of Holocaust deniers.

"That's always bothered me a bit," Bishop says of Fromm's attachment to the Red Ensign.

"There's people like that that fly the Maple Leaf flag," he adds.

On March 2, Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity, announced that the 1917 version of the Canadian Red Ensign will fly at the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Canadian-led attack. The move was made as a tribute to veterans and Bishop says it's about time.

"He (Stephen Harper) shouldn't have made me beg," he says.

When Bishop tries to explain why he has done all this he's at a loss for words.

"I really find that question hard to answer," he says adding it's deep.

"It's about identity with the veterans. That was their national flag," he says. "I'm proud of what it represents."

published on 04/10/2007

Hi Bruce,

One word ... AWESOME!



Karmen

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

I called Bill tonight and left him a voicemail of congratulation. He's a fine man with a heart of gold.