The Canadian flag has been appropriated by people with a slurry of anti-mask, anti-vaccine, and freedom-at-the-cost-of-others sentiments. This sucks.
One approach I’ve noticed to help take back the Canadian flag for an inclusive and mainstream use is to combine it with the pride/rainbow flag (and I realize there are many variations therein).
If I see 🇨🇦, I think: “Are they going to shout at me for wearing a mask?”
If I see 🇨🇦🏳️🌈 side-by-side, I think “They like Canada, and they don’t like alienating people who are different than them.”