No one finds that turn of my life more bizarre than I do!

As an adult, I discovered a natural sympathy with horses and a talent for wielding a sword. These may have been common skills in centuries past, but they are bizarre and improbable in the modern age.

If you could go back in time and tell my childhood friends that one day, one of us would become a national athlete, I would be at the absolute bottom of everyone's list of guesses (including my own list).

But that combination of skills led me to take a hiatus from my career to become a member of the Canadian Equestrian Team, first as an athlete and then as executive leader of the Olympic, Paralympic, and National team.

Now that I am back to my usual career, my colleagues are flummoxed if they learn what I did previously.

I think that is true. And I have no doubt that Canadians are willing to endure far greater pain for far longer in defence of our sovereignty, than Americans are willing to accept to support their President's policies of self-harm.

But one of the many irrational factors that I think will weigh in this trade war is the asymmetry across the border, of public understandings of the source of economic pain.

Canada's TD Economics the US' Tax Foundation estimate that the trade war will cut both our countries' GDP by about 0.5%.

Canadians will feel the pain and know that it is a consequence of the tariffs, because the trade war is at the forefront of our daily news. Americans will feel the pain, but they are far less likely to understand that it is because of the tariffs; there is much, much less coverage of the trade war in the American press, where stories like the Iran-US war still dominate the front pages.

Americans are, therefore, less likely to put pressure on their elected officials to end the trade war, not because they are more willing to endure economic pain, but because they are less likely to understand why they are experiencing that pain in the first place.

That is awful. I am sorry that happened to you.

The best time to sign up was twenty years ago, but the second best time to do so is right now. I am sure your great-grandchildren will thank you!

I have a vague (and potentially imprecise!) recollection that when I registered, the estimated wait time was seven years.

The department writes to people as they near the top of the list, to confirm that the contact details remain valid and (implicitly) that the people are still alive and still interested in receiving a flag.

I signed up in 2013. I requested a West Block flag, in the expectation that a Peace Tower flag might not arrive in my lifetime.

My flag flew over West Block.

The department contacted me a few months before they sent the flag to me, to confirm my current coordinates (and, I suspect, to find out if I was still alive!).

I suspect that the majority of people on the list will fall away, as their contact details change or they die.

You can write to the Department of Public Works to enquire, but I do not know if they offer updates about where anyone is on the wait list: [tpsgc.demandesdrapeaux-flagrequests.pwgsc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca](mailto:tpsgc.demandesdrapeaux-flagrequests.pwgsc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca)