Just in time for Canada Day comes the startling news from Ipsos-Reid pollsters that one in five Canadians would consider getting a maple leaf tattoo. Pollsters failed to say exactly where Canadians envisioned getting their patriotic ink. But along with the news that 60 per cent of us are OK with Canadian flag underwear, it's an unexpected trend.
Frankly we're a little bit unnerved. Who would have thought a nation that brought you the Double Double, poutine and international peacekeeping suddenly needed to get showy?
Our unassuming style is one of the things that's always been endearing about Canada. We're a nation of people who file their taxes and don't mind standing in line.
That probably has a lot to do with how we managed to come up with a mostly-functional Medicare system decades before Obamacare became a political firestorm.
While our American cousins celebrate their independence this week with its "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", our Canada Day - once Dominion Day - has always been more about the collective and the forces that have brought us together. "Peace, order and good government" is our somewhat bureaucratic catchphrase.
That's one of the nice things about Canada. We've never been required to wear our appreciation for our country on our sleeves. Or up our flagpoles, for that matter. Large displays of patriotic fervor not required.
We kind of like it that way. So go ahead and enjoy Canada Day - with or without that Maple Leaf tattoo.
