13 April 2015

Norm Christie and ‘missing’ soldiers from the Battle of Vimy Ridge

A recent worthwhile read is Robert Sibley's article from the Nationl Post Ninety-eight years later, historian finds ‘missing’ soldiers from the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
I'm certainly in favour of identifying the remains of 44 Canadian Scottish soldiers who "died in one of the great battles of the war" (Vimy Ridge) and that "we should do them the honour of recovering their bodies." 
However the comments attributed to Christie, that the notion of Canada as a nation of peacekeepers is an ideological fabrication, do no honour to our military. Nobel Peace Prize winning Prime Minister Lester Pearson, who served during the First World War, is the name most associated with peacekeeping.There's no need to denigrate peacekeeping to promote valuing war-time service. Peacekeeping too is an important part of Canadian history.
This government could well afford to fully fund the recovery project Christie promotes, if it chose. By not doing so is Christie condemning the present government's neglect of Canada's military history - something of which they've rarely been accused? Perhaps if the article had been published anywhere other than that particular newspaper it would have had a more even perspective.

1 comment:

Lynne Willoughby said...

Well said John,

We don't hear enough talk these days about peace and peacekeeping.

The "dogs of war" are much more in vogue these days.