We are the Nation of Vimy Ridge
There is a Harvard professor who likes to say “We are the nation of Vimy Ridge.” I was taught the very same thing in high school.
That battle allowed Canada to free itself from Britain to step out onto the world stage.
Our army ventured where others had tried and failed. Canada is the country built on unchartered territory.
We wrote the UN Declaration of Human Rights. We invented Peace Keeping. We are one of the most progressive countries in the world because we stand up when others do not.
That is why we hold down the fort in Kandahar no matter what our allies do because it is the right thing to do.
We ARE the nation of Vimy Ridge. The six soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice on Sunday continue to embody that spirit.
That battle allowed Canada to free itself from Britain to step out onto the world stage.
Our army ventured where others had tried and failed. Canada is the country built on unchartered territory.
We wrote the UN Declaration of Human Rights. We invented Peace Keeping. We are one of the most progressive countries in the world because we stand up when others do not.
That is why we hold down the fort in Kandahar no matter what our allies do because it is the right thing to do.
We ARE the nation of Vimy Ridge. The six soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice on Sunday continue to embody that spirit.
par / by Anthony à / at 10:13 a.m.
8 Commentaires:
well said. Like a true Harpermaniac in the making.
BTW, I touched by the link and have returned in kind because I wanted to do that this weekend. You are an arch-nemesis!
HA! A Harpermaniac who believes Ottawa has a role to play and also believes in regional development?
That is just the tip of the iceberg.
Sorry Chucker, I believe I am a Liberal 4 Life.
Now to get my family to not vote conservative...
Antonio,
Have we learned the wrong lessons at Vimy Ridge and to the lesser extent at Beaumont Ridge and Passchendaele?
If Vimy is the equivalent of Gallipoli to the Australians and the New Zealanders, then where are the calls for republicanism and pacifism?
How's this. Canadian soldiers at Vimy and Afghanistan died for Empire, to take the analogy of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. This is a liberal revisionist thought I am proposing, which I think you should consider.
Antonio,
I was just thinking your defense of Afghan mission was so, so, well, I could see Chretien saying something like that. But Dion?
mushroom
I see your point.
Yes nation-building involves stretching the facts sometimes, but like i pointed out, the way we remember Vimy, at least to those who are fortunate enough to meet vets (WWII for me), is that Canada went where no others were willing to go...
As for you Chucker, I will say that Tories do not have a monopoly over respecting the great work our soldiers do in Afghanistan.
"Canada went where no others were willing to go..."
Using a hockey analogy of Vimy, the one-dimensional speedy forward who has been kept on the bench for the most of the game and scores the winning goal.
A whole generation of young men in Europe died in the First World War. This led to what one would argue the worst century in human history. Not something to sound triumphal over.
how is that a hockey analogy...they went up a ridge to kill germans...
Canada's reward for this amazing and brutal feat was a gift from King George V, the honour of his colours Red & White in 1921 at the close of WWI the gratitude for all that Canadian Soldiers/Airmen did to win the war. Then it took another 40 + years to have our own Flag.If Vimy Ridge is seen as the beginning of Canadian Nationalism, I can feel the spirit, and quiet pride of my Grandfathers.
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