I haven't had the heart to watch much NHL hockey since the demise of the Winnipeg Jets. It seems a very strange universe indeed when there is major league hockey in Columbus, Atlanta and Tampa Bay but none in many large Canadian cities.

I did, however, catch a bit of the game the other night between those classic rivals–the Maple Leafs of Toronto and the Montreal Canadiens. What leapt out at me was the logo of the Toronto team. Gone was the stark, stylized leaf introduced by the unlamented Harold Ballard and in its place was a retro-looking leaf hearkening back to the original design chosen by the team in the 1920s as a tribute to the symbol worn by Canadian troops in the Great War.

A similar leaf has recently adorned the wildly popular Roots clothing worn by our Olympic athletes and peddled to the masses.

I was pleased to see the old leaf again because it seemed to offer a glimmer of hope that Canadians are regaining a sense of history–a valuable possession of which they had been stripped during the past few decades.

In 1965 the Pearson government proposed to replace the national flag of Canada–the Red Ensign–with a new model. Admittedly the old flag was full of foreign symbols (various crosses and emblems representing England, Scotland, France and Ireland) but it was the banner under which Canadians had fought and died and it was fondly regarded by millions of citizens.

Meaning evaporates

For the older generation, and particularly veterans, the 1965 debate was about replacing a cultural artifact that had meaning with one that had none.

This was, of course, precisely what Pearson's cabinet wanted. For them the old symbology was offensively pro-British and had no place in the New Canada. By presenting a flag whose only element was an abstract floral design, old ties could definitively be cut and a flag more amenable to Quebec nationalists and new immigrants brought in.

As Senator Maurice Bourget, Speaker of the Senate helpfully explained: "The flag is the symbol of the nation's unity, for it, beyond any doubt, represents all the citizens of Canada without distinction of race, language, belief or opinion."

In short order other history-laden parts of our national life disappeared. The Canadian coat of arms was stripped from mailboxes; separate names and uniforms for our Armed Forces disappeared as well as reminders that our constitutional head of state was in fact a hereditary monarch–farewell Royal Canadian Air Force and Her Majesty's Canadian Ships.

"Dominion Day" had unfortunate Christian links and was replaced by the generic "Canada Day." (Does any other country have such a dumbed-down name for their national celebration? Everyone else has Bastille Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day or Liberation Day. Ethiopians, bless them, celebrate The Finding of the True Cross Day.) When was the last time anyone was allowed to hear the words of the proudly chauvinistic anthem, "The Maple Leaf Forever?"

Thus denuded of their history Canadians were ready for reprogramming, a thorough re-education in the new values that their political masters found suitable for a new age. A flood of legislation poured forth in the late 1960s and 1970s that challenged or ignored traditional Judeo-Christian thinking: Easy divorce, easy abortion, legalized gambling and homosexuality were a few of the revolutionary social changes.

Our military was emasculated, partly because money was needed for social engineering programs and partly to recast it in a bogus "peace-keeping" mode, weakening our commitment to defence of the West and muting our voice in the council of our allies. Any notion had a martial history to be proud of was viewed as antique and war-like and disappeared from our schoolbooks.

Any appeal to past practice, tradition or Christian heritage was no longer an admissible argument.

The reappearance of the old maple leaf coincides with pride at Olympic victories and evidence of a grass-roots support for military action against terrorism that seems to bewilder the current government. It may be that we are seeing a re-awakening of old Canadian values such as patriotism, long considered passé except in beer commercials.

Gerry Bowler is a Winnipeg writer, historian and culture critic–a veritable mother lode of arcane and useful information.