Lest we forget our fallen troops.
However, not until you are taught a lesson in past racism, land settlement and slavery.
Even on Remembrance Day at Toronto’s Cenotaph honouring the war fallen who gave Canada its freedoms, the event couldn’t begin without a reminder of what could perhaps be the reason you don’t see many people wearing poppies in 2024.
It took a while to get around to the sacrifice of Canadian troops. There were other matters to attend to first. Namely Canadians are “settlers” who engaged in “slavery” and “discrimination.”
As it said in the program, “MC Aretha Phillip, chief of protocol for the City of Toronto, brings remarks including the territorial land acknowledgment.”
It lasted three minutes.
“I would like to begin by acknowledging the Indigenous people of these lands,” Phillip said. “It’s important that we reaffirm our commitment and responsibility to improving relations between nations and learning about the rich history of this land to better understand our role as residents, neighbours, partners and caretakers in this place we each call home.”
“The City of Toronto acknowledges the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. We also acknowledge the Williams treaties, signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
“The City of Toronto also acknowledges all treaty peoples including those who came here as settlers, as migrants either in this generation or generations past including those of us who came here involuntarily, particularly those brought to these lands as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery. We pay tribute to ancestors of African origin and descent. In keeping with this tribute during this remembrance week, the city commemorated the contribution of No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada’s only all-Black battalion. Despite facing discrimination, these brave men took up the call to serve during the First World War more than 100 years ago and we are joined today by their descendants.”
Phillip also said “our commemoration is a point of reflection on the past, providing context for the present challenges faced by Black communities and a hopeful future for all people of African descent.”
The whole day across the country seemed to be filled with veiled and not-so-veiled shots at Canadiana.
As my colleague Warren Kinsella reported on X, there were masked pro-Palestine supporters who interrupted the ceremony in Kingston. As well, Ottawa-area MPP Lisa MacLeod reported that at Sir Robert Borden High School in the nation’s capital, they played a “song in Arabic which did not follow the Royal Canadian Legion protocol” and “distressed Jewish students.”
Kinsella called it “madness.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow didn’t pull any of that kind of nonsense. The problem was it took at while to get to the elected chief magistrate because the unelected protocol person had the microphone for so long.
Chow also offered a shout-out to the non-combat construction battalion that certainly deserves a pat on the back for its contribution to helping win the First World War with the logs they cut and trenches they helped build.
“Their story,” Chow said, is a “powerful reminder of the resilience and strength that diversity bring to our armed forces … despite facing discrimination these brave men took up the call to serve.”
Chow also mentioned Toronto’s premier combat unit, the 48th Highlanders, those who stormed the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago and the service of those who served and died in Afghanistan — eight of whom were from Toronto including fallen Cpl. Matthew McCully, whose mother Valerie McGrady laid a wreath.
There were many emotional moments like that, including veteran military officer Adrienne Batra, the editor-in-chief at the Toronto Sun, also laying a wreath. Emily Cathcart brought a photo of the grandfather she never met, Lloyd Simpson, who worked on Morse code in England in the Second World War, and Michael Harrison, whose dad Ivor joined the navy from Belfast at 16 before coming to Canada after the war and staying here until his death in 2018 at the age of 89.
“My dad and I always came here on Remembrance Day,” said Harrison.
They still do.
But if you look at the crowds at these ceremonies now compared to the past, it’s clear interest in our fallen soldiers is depleting. On the way to this year’s ceremony at Old City Hall, I noticed on the roads and on trains and at Union Station how few people wear poppies.
“It’s sure not like it was in the 1950s,” said Don Cherry, who was fired from television for asking people to wear them.
Lest we forget? Seems many already have.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
As it said in the program, “MC Aretha Phillip, chief of protocol for the City of Toronto, brings remarks including the territorial land acknowledgment.”
It lasted three minutes.
“I would like to begin by acknowledging the Indigenous people of these lands,” Phillip said. “It’s important that we reaffirm our commitment and responsibility to improving relations between nations and learning about the rich history of this land to better understand our role as residents, neighbours, partners and caretakers in this place we each call home.”
“The City of Toronto acknowledges the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. We also acknowledge the Williams treaties, signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
“The City of Toronto also acknowledges all treaty peoples including those who came here as settlers, as migrants either in this generation or generations past including those of us who came here involuntarily, particularly those brought to these lands as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery. We pay tribute to ancestors of African origin and descent. In keeping with this tribute during this remembrance week, the city commemorated the contribution of No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada’s only all-Black battalion. Despite facing discrimination, these brave men took up the call to serve during the First World War more than 100 years ago and we are joined today by their descendants.”
Phillip also said “our commemoration is a point of reflection on the past, providing context for the present challenges faced by Black communities and a hopeful future for all people of African descent.”
The whole day across the country seemed to be filled with veiled and not-so-veiled shots at Canadiana.
As my colleague Warren Kinsella reported on X, there were masked pro-Palestine supporters who interrupted the ceremony in Kingston. As well, Ottawa-area MPP Lisa MacLeod reported that at Sir Robert Borden High School in the nation’s capital, they played a “song in Arabic which did not follow the Royal Canadian Legion protocol” and “distressed Jewish students.”
Kinsella called it “madness.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow didn’t pull any of that kind of nonsense. The problem was it took at while to get to the elected chief magistrate because the unelected protocol person had the microphone for so long.
Chow also offered a shout-out to the non-combat construction battalion that certainly deserves a pat on the back for its contribution to helping win the First World War with the logs they cut and trenches they helped build.
“Their story,” Chow said, is a “powerful reminder of the resilience and strength that diversity bring to our armed forces … despite facing discrimination these brave men took up the call to serve.”
Chow also mentioned Toronto’s premier combat unit, the 48th Highlanders, those who stormed the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago and the service of those who served and died in Afghanistan — eight of whom were from Toronto including fallen Cpl. Matthew McCully, whose mother Valerie McGrady laid a wreath.
There were many emotional moments like that, including veteran military officer Adrienne Batra, the editor-in-chief at the Toronto Sun, also laying a wreath. Emily Cathcart brought a photo of the grandfather she never met, Lloyd Simpson, who worked on Morse code in England in the Second World War, and Michael Harrison, whose dad Ivor joined the navy from Belfast at 16 before coming to Canada after the war and staying here until his death in 2018 at the age of 89.
“My dad and I always came here on Remembrance Day,” said Harrison.
They still do.
But if you look at the crowds at these ceremonies now compared to the past, it’s clear interest in our fallen soldiers is depleting. On the way to this year’s ceremony at Old City Hall, I noticed on the roads and on trains and at Union Station how few people wear poppies.
“It’s sure not like it was in the 1950s,” said Don Cherry, who was fired from television for asking people to wear them.
Lest we forget? Seems many already have.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
As my colleague Warren Kinsella reported on X, there were masked pro-Palestine supporters who interrupted the ceremony in Kingston. As well, Ottawa-area MPP Lisa MacLeod reported that at Sir Robert Borden High School in the nation’s capital, they played a “song in Arabic which did not follow the Royal Canadian Legion protocol” and “distressed Jewish students.”
Kinsella called it “madness.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow didn’t pull any of that kind of nonsense. The problem was it took at while to get to the elected chief magistrate because the unelected protocol person had the microphone for so long.
Chow also offered a shout-out to the non-combat construction battalion that certainly deserves a pat on the back for its contribution to helping win the First World War with the logs they cut and trenches they helped build.
“Their story,” Chow said, is a “powerful reminder of the resilience and strength that diversity bring to our armed forces … despite facing discrimination these brave men took up the call to serve.”
Chow also mentioned Toronto’s premier combat unit, the 48th Highlanders, those who stormed the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago and the service of those who served and died in Afghanistan — eight of whom were from Toronto including fallen Cpl. Matthew McCully, whose mother Valerie McGrady laid a wreath.
There were many emotional moments like that, including veteran military officer Adrienne Batra, the editor-in-chief at the Toronto Sun, also laying a wreath. Emily Cathcart brought a photo of the grandfather she never met, Lloyd Simpson, who worked on Morse code in England in the Second World War, and Michael Harrison, whose dad Ivor joined the navy from Belfast at 16 before coming to Canada after the war and staying here until his death in 2018 at the age of 89.
“My dad and I always came here on Remembrance Day,” said Harrison.
They still do.
But if you look at the crowds at these ceremonies now compared to the past, it’s clear interest in our fallen soldiers is depleting. On the way to this year’s ceremony at Old City Hall, I noticed on the roads and on trains and at Union Station how few people wear poppies.
“It’s sure not like it was in the 1950s,” said Don Cherry, who was fired from television for asking people to wear them.
Lest we forget? Seems many already have.
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