Great Canadian Flag Debate retention of the Canadian Red Ensign. Diefenbaker and his lieutenants mounted a filibuster. The seemingly endless debate raged on in Parliament and the press with no side giving quarter. Pearson forced members of Parliament to stay over the summer, but that did not help. On September 10, 1964, the Prime Minister yielded to the suggestion that the matter be referred to a special flag committee. The key member of the 15-person panel, Liberal Member of Parliament John Matheson said that they "were asked to produce a flag for Canada and in six weeks!" On September 10, 1964, a committee of
Great Canadian Flag Debate membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Senate approval followed on December 17, 1964. The "Royal Union Flag", as it would be officially termed, would be put alongside the new flag on days of Commonwealth significance. Queen Elizabeth II approved the Maple Leaf flag by signing a royal proclamation on January 28, 1965, when both Prime Minister Pearson and Leader of the Opposition Diefenbaker were in London attending the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. The flag was inaugurated on February 15, 1965, at an official ceremony held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in the presence of Governor General Major-General Georges Vanier,