Great Canadian Flag Debate a blue background. Pearson preferred this choice, as the blue bars reflected Canada's motto, "From Sea to Sea". On June 15, 1964, Pearson opened the parliamentary flag debate with a resolution: Pearson sought to produce a flag which embodied history and tradition, but he also wanted to excise the Union Jack as a reminder of Canada's heritage and links to the United Kingdom. Hence, the issue was not whether the maple leaf was pre-eminently Canadian, but rather whether the nation should exclude the British-related component from its identity. Diefenbaker led the opposition to the Maple Leaf flag, arguing for the
Great Canadian Flag Debate the opposition, Lester Pearson issued a press release on January 27, 1960, in which he summarized the problem and presented his suggestion as: ... Canadian Government taking full responsibility as soon as possible for finding a solution to the flag problem, by submitting to Parliament a measure which, if accepted by the representatives of the people in Parliament, would, I hope, settle the problem. The Progressive Conservative government of the time, headed by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, did not accept the invitation to establish a new Canadian flag, so Pearson made it Liberal Party policy in 1961, and part of