The 1967 Centennial celebrations under Lester Pearson seem to have been an attempt to reinvent Canada under the Liberals, who regarded themselves as a permanent "natural governing party". This followed the flag introduced under Pearson in 1965.

Just as the distribution of Senate seats is unfair to the West, the adoption of the maple leaf was an artefact of the original merger, appearing for example on the reverse of Victorian coins (i.e. 1876 one-cent piece) strangely as a wreath of maple leafs,-- something to think about as a crafts challenge for those raking leaves next fall in the southern latitudes of Ontario and Québec.   

Given that the maple doesn't grow indigenously over most of Canada's land mass, one of the coniferous species might have been a more practical and perhaps fairer choice,-- unless of course, the West decides to leave in frustration over Trudeau II.