There are only two days remaining until November 11th. Why is this important day of solemn remembrance in danger of irrelevance in Canada?
Of course this premise stems from Friday’s news that in Halifax Sackville Heights Elementary, sent a notice to families asking veterans and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces to abstain from wearing their uniform if they planned to attend the school’s Remembrance Day ceremony.
Canadians were proud after the Second World War, not only for what we had accomplished with our allies but with the notable distinctions earned by Canadian units, especially in Normandy. Canadians at home contributed financial support toward the war and cheered for our military. Industries manufactured weapons and prepared food for troops abroad, and Canadians truly became united across our vast territory.
The Government invites a million settlers a year who share little by way of culture and values with Canada. Don’t be surprised our “quaint traditions” are being swept under the rug.
Every year on November 11, Canadians across the country cluster in the cold around cenotaphs of concrete and stone to commemorate our war dead. In a society almost entirely devoid of tradition and ritual, Remembrance Day ceremonies wield particular power: the tread of boots on asphalt in the silence as the military parade passes by; the shrill of the bagpipes; God Save the Queen (or, last year for the first time since 1951, God Save the King); the laying of the wreaths; the reading of John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields; and the moment of silence at 11 AM followed by the Last Post, the notes echoing into the reverie. It is the last Canadian ceremony of its kind.
My Dad. Landed at Juno, severely wounded by shrapnel several weeks into the Normandy campaign. Not a hero. Just a common soldier.
A sense of the sacrifice was passed down to my generation first hand.
Many had parents or knew friend’s parents, or had granddads, uncles and cousins who served in WW I, WW II and Korea.
My Godfather lost a hand in WW I. He always gave me a buck on my birthday. You don’t forget that.
I only had to look at the scars on Dad’s body and his deformed leg.
Today our armed forces can’t meet recruiting goals.
The succeeding generations of the people who sacrificed lives, bodies and minds in our defense no longer desire to join Canada’s military.
What can you say when our Prime Minister goes on vacay for Remembrance Day and hangs out with drag queens.
The War was followed by an elite backlash against civilisation
Why do modern architects hate humanity? The question echoes around one my favourite corners of the internet, Reactionary Architecture Twitter. Powered by a loathing of the modernist and post-modernist built environment, it’s weirdly popular, signalling an about-turn towards traditional aesthetics, which has even seen Britain’s reactionary-in-chief, Prince Charles, enjoying a (sort of) comeback.
