Mr. Reid has been flogging his version of the flag’s history for many years now, and it is time to put his wishful thinking to rest.

MARGARET BEDDOE LAWRENCE

Brockville, Ontario

JOHN BLACKWELL

Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Your article on the national flag brought back many memories beginning with the fun friends and I had as teenagers in the summer of 1964. Keen to see the country have a new flag, we entered a float in the July 1st parade in North Vancouver to promote it. We made a large copy of the Pearson pennant that was held by the prettiest one of our group on our “float,� a VW Beetle. To ensure our message was carried away, we silkscreened over 1,000 paper copies of the Pearson Pennant, stapled them to large size Popsicle sticks and handed them out along the route. Passions swirled around the flag issue that summer. Some in the crowd were enthusiastic and asked for three or four little flags. In contrast, one older man was deeply offended by our advocacy and offered a large sum of money if we would leave the parade and take that “rag� with us.

Months later, I gained a seat in the parliamentary gallery for the last night of the great flag debate. I will never forget the drama in the Commons and the passion in the speeches of Lester Pearson, John Diefenbaker, and others.

My great interest in Canadian symbols stayed with me and years later, when I became Chief Herald of Canada in the Governor General’s office, among the many friendships I made was one with John Matheson. I never tired of hearing him recall the incredible saga which led to the new flag. He and I often discussed the evolution of the maple leaf as a much loved symbol of Canadian nationhood and sovereignty, a story that goes back before Confederation in 1867. As a herald I can tell you our flag is widely hailed by vexillologists and heraldists around the world as one of the finest on earth, from a purely technical point of view for its great simplicity and visual power. Thanks for highlighting the vital part played by Patrick Reid and Jacques St Cyr in making it so.

ROBERT D. WATT

Rideau Herald Emeritus and Citizenship Judge, North Vancouver

Counselling not exclusive to psychologists

Re: The hidden dangers of therapy, Column, Jan. 31

On reading this article, the public might to come to the conclusion that therapy should only be administered by registered psychologists. I am currently a graduate student working on a Masters in Counselling Psychology and once I have completed my two years, including over 700 hours of supervised clinical experience, I will be able to write a Masters Counselling Qualifying Exam. Pending success on the qualifying exam, I will then be able to register with either the Canadian Counselling Association or the British Columbia Counselling Association, as a registered clinical counsellor. We are mandated both within our education and as future members of these organizations to follow a strict ethics code in order to prevent the harm discussed in the article. While there is the option to continue in our education to a PhD, it is not a necessary step to provide professional counselling services to the public. We also charge less, therefore making our services more accessible to many people. Looking into the BCCA and CCA, specifically their regulations and ethics codes, would have given readers a more complete view of the counselling services available.