My Canadian Flag
By Kevin Aikenhead, Assistant Facility Manger, South Kent Wind
In June of 2004 I had the opportunity to travel to our Nation’s Capital for the first time in my life with my grade 8 graduating class for our end of the year field trip.
We traveled by bus and I got to spend two nights with my best friends in Ottawa for a three day trip to visit the National Gallery of Canada, Royal Canadian Mint, Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Supreme Court of Canada and Parliament Hill.
A class picture of the 2004 George P. Vanier Grade 8 class at Parliament Hill. I’m located on the far right in the white shirt with a backpack on.
During the tour of Parliament Hill my Dad was informed that every weekday, the designated flag master changes the Peace Tower flag.
And any Canadian resident can send a request to be added to the waiting list to receive a Canadian flag that has flown on Parliament Hill.
At that time our tour guide informed us it was an estimated 8 year wait time. The day after returning home I wrote a letter to my local MP requesting a flag.
In the middle of September of 2015, over 11 years later, I received a call from my mother asking why there was a package from Ottawa delivered to the house. This was a mystery to me.
The moment I opened the package I knew what it was. I pulled out the official letter telling me this Flag flew over Parliament Hill on August 21, 2015.
Taking the flag out the box, the size was overwhelming.
It’s a 15 x 7 ft large Canadian flag. I couldn’t have been more proud to be Canadian at this moment. I had a small part of Canadian history that I could call mine.
I posted the flag and a small story on my Facebook that night. My post received over 180 likes. Many of my old classmates commented saying how the post brought back great memories.
Family and friends started asking how they could receive the same flag. Looking into it online I discovered that the wait time is now over 60 years. This made me cherish my flag even more.
The first thought that crossed my mind was how I should display such a large flag. I could not erect a large enough flag pole in my back yard.
Working at the South Kent Wind Farm I thought it would be great to fly along the 401 behind a wind turbine for all to enjoy.
The day before Canada day would be the perfect opportunity.
My hope is for people to be proud of what our wind farm represents for Canada.
The flag would come as a reminder of the good wind turbines can provide.
The tower sections being built in Windsor Ontario, the blades being manufactured in Tillsonburg Ontario, the up to 500+ workers that built our Farm, the number of full time work provided for me and my co-workers and the numerous community supports that come from the turbines.
That Canada is taking an initiative in renewable energy that allows our nation to lead the world.
The efforts Canada is taking to keep our land glorious and to provide future generations the beautiful lands and clean air I enjoyed as a child.
