On being Canadian

I was just listening to Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio (Rex Murphy is on vacation, I wonder if he got his passport early this time). This week they are talking about what it means to be Canadian. The first caller into the show is an immigrant to Canada. He recalled the story of asking his wife, "how is it that the maple leaf is allowed to be on the ground when it is also on the flag?" Although the flag is relatively new (a shade over 40 years old) I wonder if the internationally renowned (Canadian) trait of self-deprecation is kept alive by our walking on maple leaves every fall...