Flags engender strong emotions in people. Different flags will induce different emotions in different people. For example, the Israeli flag will produce feelings of love, joy, admiration, pride, and respect in some people, while also generating fear, hatred, disgust and contempt in other people. The same can be said of the Palestinian flag, the American flag, and, yes, even the Canadian flag.
Expecting all people to have the same feelings about any one particular flag is completely irrational. Requiring people to salute (or to pretend to appreciate) a flag they dislike is fundamentally unjust. Coercion enforced by law is a hallmark of repressive regimes that have no respect for human rights.
If the flags of different countries will engender love or hatred in different people, the same holds true for flags that represent political ideologies. For some Canadians, the rainbow flag represents love, justice, tolerance, and freedom. Other Canadians see the rainbow flag as a symbol for libertine sexuality that is hostile to the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian understanding of human sexuality. Some see the rainbow flag as a symbol of liberation and goodness, others view it as a symbol of immorality.
A free country leaves it up to each citizen to decide independently what attitude to adopt towards any flag. No citizen is required to endorse or affirm a flag, or the ideology for which it stands. A free country will fly its national flag above its Parliament, but a free country will not force its citizens to salute the nation’s flag, or to speak favourably about the flag or the nation.
Freedom of expression includes the right to say what you want to say, and also the right to refrain from saying something that you disagree with. Free speech includes the right not to endorse a particular philosophy or worldview, and the right not to affirm or celebrate any particular flag. Freedom of religion includes the right to practice one’s faith, and also the right to refrain from endorsing or promoting beliefs that are contrary to one’s faith. If Canada is still a free country, no citizen should be forced to salute any flag, or to express support for any religious or political symbol, or for any flag or ideology.
For most Canadians, these basic principles of a free and democratic society are plain common sense, not needing an explanation. But people who are madly in love with their own flag, and fanatically devoted to their own ideology, cannot imagine that a good person might have an entirely different view. In their hearts, these ideologues have determined that only a bad person would disagree with their political beliefs and worldview. Some people love their own flag and ideology so much that they will cheerfully and enthusiastically punish those who disagree. They will even seek to punish people for failing to endorse a belief system.
Matt and Nicole Alexander, two teachers from Cobden, Ont., were fired in October 2023 for their lack of enthusiasm for the rainbow flag, and for the ideology this flag stands for.
Matt had been a teacher for over 20 years, most recently teaching Grades 7 and 8, with a spotless record. Nicole had been teaching for three years, having returned to work after some years of raising her children as a full-time stay-at-home mom. Nicole’s performance reviews were excellent, stating that she practices anti-discrimination in the classroom, and values fairness and equality in her class.
Their problems began in April 2023, when Matt was phoned by his school’s principal and told he was suspended and under investigation. No details were provided, other than a vague reference to some complaint about Matt’s social media posts. This in spite of the fact that Matt did not even have a social media account at the time!
In June 2023, Nicole was arriving at her kindergarten classroom when she saw a pride poster on her classroom door, taped there by someone without Nicole’s knowledge or consent. She noted that no other classroom door nearby had a pride poster on it, and no instructions had been provided to teachers. She removed the poster, put it in a cupboard, and began to teach class. She was called into the principal’s office a few hours later. The superintendent was present and asked Nicole whether she had removed the poster. Nicole said she did. She was then told she was suspended pending investigation.
In September 2023, the school board told the Alexanders that they were not following board policies, including those of affirming and de-stigmatizing LGBTQ histories and realities, and of “celebrating and affirming” diversity in the learning environment.
Prior to the Alexanders encountering accusations of failing to celebrate and affirm LGBTQ issues, their teenage son Josh had become a vocal and high-profile opponent of policies in a different school board. Josh organized and participated in peaceful rallies opposing policies that allow males who identify as females to use the girls’ and women’s washrooms. He also organized a protest against a “drag queen story hour” event at a Toronto high school. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario denounced Josh’s views as “hate” and encouraged teachers to join a counter-protest against Josh’s advocacy. The president of Matt and Nicole’s union local was amongst the counter-protesters.
Initially, Matt and Nicole did not comment on social media about their son’s peaceful and controversial advocacy. However, it needs to be said that, in a free country, neither Matt nor Nicole, nor any other teacher, nor any other professional, should fear adverse consequences over publicly expressing their opinion on a political topic. Matt and Nicole supported their son’s advocacy, and for the most part did so privately.
In spite of the absence of any credible complaint against either teacher about how they treated their students in the classroom, Matt and Nicole still lost their jobs, based on extremely vague and unsupported complaints. It appears that they were fired due to a lack of enthusiasm for the rainbow flag and for the ideology that it represents.
In December 2023, the union filed a grievance for the Alexanders for unjust termination, but ultimately refused to bring the case to arbitration. Further, the union refused to argue for the Alexanders’ Charter section 2(a) freedom of religion and conscience, or for the requirement under human rights legislation to accommodate religious convictions. The union provided no explanation for its refusal, even though the Charter applies to Ontario school boards because they are government entities.
In August 2024, the union informed the Alexanders that it would not proceed with the arbitration at all. The union claimed that the grievances were unlikely to succeed at arbitration, but refused to provide any reasons as to why it believed this to be the case.
In April 2025, the couple filed an application before the Labour Relations Board, regarding their union’s failure to provide fair representation. A human rights complaint has also been filed, alleging that the Alexanders were fired on the basis of creed, because their religious beliefs preclude them from celebrating LGBTQ issues.
If Canada was still a free country, Matt and Nicole Alexander would not have been fired from their jobs. Firing people over their alleged opposition—or even their real opposition—towards a particular flag or a particular political ideology is completely contrary to the “free and democratic society” that the Charter sets out as its ideal.
