Go Ad Free

Recipe Unlimited might not be a household word, but you are likely very familiar with the corporation’s numerous restaurant brands. This includes The Keg, Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, New York Fries, and East Side Mario’s.

Astute viewers might recall that for the last few years we have dropped by Recipe’s headquarters in Vaughan, Ont., to lament how this great Canadian foodservice leviathan removes its enormous Canadian flag for the entire month of June.

Alas, June is pride month of course, so presumably in the name of “inclusion”, the Canadian flag must be put into a closet for 30 days… even though the Maple Leaf is inclusive of everybody who lives in Canada regardless of who you are or how you identify. But never mind…

But check this out: this June, the Canadian flag is still proudly flapping in the breeze at the corporate HQ of Recipe Unlimited.

Not that we’re complaining, but what was the reason for this change in policy?

That’s a great question for which there are no answers forthcoming.

We emailed that query to Nicolette Garito who heads up Recipe’s media relations team. We have to send emails to her because we were informed by a receptionist that Garito “does not have a phone.” We’re not making this up: someone employed in media relations in the developed world in 2025 doesn’t have a phone. How weird is that?

Alas, our email was not returned from Garito nor anyone else at the company’s media relations team.

So, allow us to speculate as to why the Canadian flag is still flying this June at Recipe Unlimited HQ while the pride flag remains in cold storage.

Our first theory is that thanks to our previous reports, Recipe Unlimited endured a colossal public relations black eye for cancelling the Canadian flag for an entire month. As well, perhaps the powers-that-be at Recipe Unlimited are very much aware of the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco. This gender-bender almost destroyed Bud Light as a brand overnight. Perhaps they realized that the tide is turning when it comes to wokeness, and that DEI can be toxic for the bottom line?

Indeed, we can tell you that the vast majority of comments left by viewers regarding our previous stories about Recipe Unlimited were of the scathing variety.

By the way, speaking of beer, the Molson Coors brewery at the cross-section of Hwy. 401 and Hwy. 427 used to remove its huge Canadian flag in June, too. Until last year. We could never get an answer why that was, but regardless, the irony was profound and perverse: a top brand of Molson Coors is Canadian… yet the Canadian flag was banner non-grata during the month of June? Shameful.

But obviously Molson Coors got the message that cancelling the Canadian flag for an entire month is not cool; perhaps Recipe Unlimited also received such a message from its consumers and staffers as well?

Our second theory as to why Recipe Unlimited has kept the Canadian flag in place: could it be thanks to the so-called “elbows up” movement? After all, the Canadian flag is suddenly very much back in vogue these days in certain circles, isn’t it?

The irony is both profound and perverse. After all, the “elbows up” crowd consists of essentially the same people who demonized and vilified those brandishing the Maple Leaf just three years ago.

We’ve never seen so many Maple Leaf flags proudly flown than when we covered the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa in 2022. But back then, a Canadian flag flown from a hockey stick affixed to the bed of a pickup truck was a telltale indicator that the person in the vehicle was part of “a minority fringe with unacceptable views.” At least that’s how the Liberal elite viewed things.

And let’s not forget that prior to the Freedom Convoy, the Trudeau Liberals ordered Canadian flags flown at half staff at federal buildings for more than five months in 2021. This was after the alleged discovery of what some believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School… which, as we now know, turned out to be a hoax.

But that was then and this is now. And these days, the red and white flag is back in fashion big time. And it is so in vogue that it even eclipses the sacred multicoloured pride flag in June. Wow, will miracles ever cease?

And so it is we give Recipe Unlimited a tip of the hat… even if it might be doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.