
Remembrance Day: Honouring Our Veterans
As we approach Remembrance Day, we find ourselves thinking about the brave men and women close to us that have served and continue to serve, protecting our democracy as well as the rights and freedoms we have the luxury of taking for granted day to day. Like us, you’re probably already wearing the commemorative poppy that helps to represent and acknowledge the significant sacrifice made by those who have and do serve in our various armed forces. It’s the least we can do to show that we remember. Why do we remember? Because we must. If we don’t, the sacrifice of the one hundred thousand plus Canadian lives was made in vain. They died for us. They died for their families and friends. They died for the traditions and values that we, as Canadians, cherish and hold so dear. They died for Canada. It’s not unusual for many of us to take for granted our Canadian values and institutions; the freedoms we enjoy to participate in cultural and political events, our right to live under a government of our choice; and our ability to actively participate in our democracy. Those men and women who left to far off lands to fight on our behalf went with the belief that those values enjoyed by Canadians were under threat. They fully believed that “Without freedom, there can be no ensuring peace and without peace no enduring freedom.” To recognize – to remember – their sacrifice, year after year is to allow it to rest in our collective national conscience to ensure we understand how fortunate we are to be Canadian and to enjoy a present and future – the monument to what they gave.
