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Canada's national flag day is at the centre of a row after the man expected to become Quebec's next premier compared the maple leaf motif to a red rag.
As Canadians mark their national symbol on Thursday, Vice Premier Bernard Landry complained about the large number of flags to be seen in the provincial capital, Quebec City.
Mr Landry's comments brought a stern rebuke from the federal government, and reignited a nationwide debate about the province's relations with the rest of Canada.
Six years ago, voters in an independence referendum defeated a separatist move to split the province from the rest of the country by just a few thousand votes.
Complaints
As a result, the government in Ottawa wanted to raise the profile of the federal government.
 Quebec narrowly voted not to secede in 1995 |
The national flag day was created just after the independence referendum, increasing dramatically the amount spent on the famous maple leaf flag, not least in Quebec.
They are given out free when requested and - more controversially - the government now demands that projects which they support must fly the national flag.
But it is unlikely that Canada's flag day will receive much attention in Quebec.
Even people who strongly support the province being part of Canada will be unwilling to risk antagonising separatists by making an issue out of the flag.
And many of those who want to see Quebec become a nation, whether or not it becomes independent from Canada, will simply be ignoring the event altogether.
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