I think this is much ado about nothing. It's a stylized maple leaf, as is the maple leaf on the flag. Neither one looks like any real leaf from any type of maple tree, nor is either supposed to.
I suppose that some will insist that it's a Norwegian maple and will object to it on the basis that even though they've been growing here for more than a century, they're not native to Canada. So? Neither was Sir John A. Macdonald, and I've never heard an objection to his presence on our money.
Don't even get me started on the queen!