Victoria resident AJ Winter is speaking out after a supervisor at his virtual oath of citizenship ceremony on January 31 directed him to take down his “F*ck [Justin] Trudeau” flag. .“Because of her own sort of views and rules, I almost lost out on becoming a Canadian citizen,” said Winter in an interview with the Western Standard..Winter said he moved to Canada from Australia eight years ago because he was worried about the state of the country. While he left before Australia enacted strict COVID-19 restrictions, he said he had this instinct to get out. .When he moved to Vancouver Island, he said it was “the only time in my adult life I cried.” This is because he was amazed by its natural beauty. .Winter applied for Canadian citizenship for administrative reasons — he wanted to make life easier for himself. .The Victoria resident went on to say he decided to hang the "F*ck Trudeau" flag with a maple leaf over the u in his background because he and his partner were affected by Trudeau promoting vaccine mandates..He was a senior employee with the British Columbia Public Service, and he was terminated from this position for not providing proof of vaccination. .He said life has been tough since losing his job. Living in BC is expensive, and he has entered the skilled trades to maintain an income. .An official was checking on every person’s screen before the oath of citizenship ceremony and asked him to take his flag down. He asked why, as it was his favourite version of the Canadian flag. .Other people had flags of their home countries and variants of the Canadian flag. He said his flag symbolized people coming together to fight for rights and freedoms during the Freedom Convoy. .The official said she found his flag offensive. He refused to take it down, so she alerted her manager. .When the manager arrived, she tried to come up with certain rules to single out why it should be taken down. Her first reason was it was political. .Winter said most flags are political. The manager said it should come down because it has profanity in it. .He declined to, saying there is no explicit profanity in the flag. She said she wanted it removed because it was not conveying a celebratory message. .He responded by saying it was her interpretation it was not reflecting a celebratory message. She ordered him to take down the flag or else. .People doing a virtual oath of citizenship are given a list of rules for it. He said nowhere in the rules does it say he cannot have the flag up. .The manager said the rule was not written down. Winter decided to give up and take it down, because it was important for him to obtain his citizenship. .His citizenship certificate came on February 6. He has not heard back from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) about the flag ordeal. .He acknowledged what counts most to him is having the same rights as other Canadian citizens. Now that he has his certificate, he said he intends on “using my citizenship and the freedom of speech given to Canadian citizens probably to its fullest extent.” .Winter concluded by saying people should be able to hang whatever flags they want in their backgrounds because freedom of expression is guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. .“I’m not against anyone else flying whatever flag they want to as long as I can fly whatever I want to as well,” he said. .“Expression is not in any way violence.” .IRCC spokesperson Stuart Isherwood could not comment on the specific case due to privacy reasons. .“As per our website, all persons invited to a citizenship ceremony must be aware that the ceremony is not an opportunity to present political views, to present a point of view, or to sell a product,” said Isherwood. .“The video oath ceremony invitation to clients states that citizenship ceremonies are dignified and meaningful events.” .Since most video oath ceremonies include multiple candidates, Isherwood said IRCC asks conversations remain respectful. He said clients should choose an area with a plain background rather than use a virtual one. .Officials in Port Colborne, ON, attempted to take steps to remove a “F*ck Trudeau” flag from a home in 2021. .READ MORE: Ontario officials order ‘Fu-k Trudeau’ flag removed.Certain residents said they were unamused by the flag and complained to the City of Port Colborne. .The City of Port Colborne determined the flag violated its property standards bylaw after an inspection from a bylaw officer.
