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This coming Monday November 11th is Remembrance Day.
This day is a very special day of the year as we set aside our daily routines to remember and pay extra respect to the memories of those who have served our country and those who continue to.
There is an ever-growing debt owed for the sacrifices paid by the brave men and woman who served and continue to serve our country and through that service have allowed us to continue to live in safety and freedom in the best country in the world.
Whether you believe in military action or not nobody can argue that without these sacrifices our country and world would be as safe and secure as it is today. History, be it decades ago, short years ago, or even weeks ago, have shown us that threats to our safety and even our existence has only been met and deterred by our brave men and woman in uniform.
Most of us can only imagine the nightmares that Canada’s men and women of uniform have had to deal with on our behalf. We can only guess at the pain and anguish endured on our behalf. This one day of the year barely pays the interest on that debt.
But while we remember the actions of our brave men and women in uniform let us not forget the underlying reason they had to pay this hefty price. The attitudes of hate, intolerance, and division is what fuels conflict. Those attitudes have not been vanquished with many of the evil regimes our veterans slayed many years ago. In fact, the attitudes of hate, intolerance, and division not only continue to exist but they appear to be thriving and also being normalized and accepted in our society. Whether these attitudes are on display by our neighbours or political leaders we must recognize them as unacceptable and do what we can to conquer them. Only when we defeat the hate, intolerance, and division will we truly have the peaceful and safe society our brave men and women fought for.
On Remembrance Day let us not only remember those who have given us so much but let us also remember that we should be paying that debt every day of the year…. Lest we forget.
- Mayor Walter Schummer