I Believe Every Death Should Be Honoured
It burns me that Harper has decided to return to the tradition of only lowering the Canadian flag on November 11th.
In the last week a Canadian soldier from a town in the county where I work (and that I work for) and I learned today that the maintenance staff at the building where my office is located raised the flag to half-mast.
It was then suggested to them that they fully raise the flag until some permission is given to do otherwise.
A young man of 23 years was killed in Afghanistan and the government buildings in his home county will (seemingly) not allow this small gesture of recognition and appreciation for him.
I guess the thing that really pisses me off is the NIMBYism of it all. Because you can damn well be sure that if he was the son of the county’s warden or one of the councillors that every goddamn government building in this county would be ordered to put those flags at half-mast.
All of this while people bitch and moan that children today don’t appreciate the sacrifices made by our vets. Remembrance Day is no longer a holiday for school.
Well, no shit. If you want kids today to appreciate, recognize and honour the deeds of the men and women who have died in war then why don’t we set an example and do so ourselves. If the government has decided that it’s better to put aside such remembrance for all but one day a year, how can you expect the kids to do any better?
My grandfather fought in both World Wars. Remembrance Day is a very important day for me, but I’ll be damned if I think that it’s the only day of the year that we should be showing our gratitude.
I won’t get started on the issue of the media ban with regards to the flag-draped coffins of fallen Canadians — suffice it to say its disgusting to me and Harper should be ashamed of himself for it.
Author: Sam Chadwick : May 6th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
I couldn’t agree with you anymore! Those soldiers are representing our country and fighting for our country thus the country should be able to appreciate their saccrifices. It should be the same whether a governor geners dies, prime minister dies, or a soldier dies… the public should be able to knour their death.
On a side note, my brother works in Ottawa for the department of heritage as a financial officer and their department has been told not to disclose any financial information they receive as they once were able to under previous governments. This is to prevent the media or anyone else from obtaining funding information, spending… that was once available for public viewing. This just goes to show you this government isn’t as transparent as they claim to be.
If this is what Harper is doing under a minority government, JUST IMAGINE WHAT HE WOULD DO UNDER A MAJORITY!
Author: Sam Chadwick : May 6th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Some spelling mistakes… sorry. “Governor general.” and “… should be able to honour their death.”
Author: Emily : June 3rd, 2006 at 9:19 pm
damn right skewls shuld hav public holis 4 remembrance day. how r we gunna fulli apretiacte wat day did 4 us if were stuk in skewl.
Author: wes : June 22nd, 2006 at 3:51 pm
I thought that Harper made that decision only for the peace tower. I could be wrong about this
Author: rocket : September 22nd, 2006 at 4:43 pm
It’s nice to know what you believe but I’ll go with the preferences of the thousands of veterans, past and present, that understand that casualties are a part of war and that no one casualty is bigger than the force he/she is a member of. The fact civilians insist on individual recognition of each casualty demonstrates their, and your, lack of appreciation for the comradery that makes our military strong and proud.