Is This Canon Sure Shot SX 30 Camera Defective re: No Flash?

I got it for Xmas this past year. It's worked well these last 6 months or so, but the FLASH will not work. It's the 1st time I've tried to use the flash. I've followed the instructions and the downloaded CD. I manually raise the flash, choose the 'lightening bolt' button (which appears on the screen) but when I try to use the triangular arrow buttons to navigate about the screen, and highlight the lightening bolt, I only get 'self timer'.