We have poppies in Canada too and the poppy is a symbol of those who have fought and died in the wars. It also goes hand in hand with a very famous poem, written by a Canadian. Wearing the poppy and reading the poem are essential parts of every Remembrance day, which in Canada is a national holiday. It has nothing to do with where you are from, where you live; it has everything to do with remembering..
In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.