Friday is Remembrance Day, when many of us take the day, or at least two minutes of it, to think about the members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAC) who died fighting for our freedoms, and to thank the veterans who survived.
We tend to focus on the two “world” wars. In fact, Canada has been involved in one conflict or another almost continually since WW2. Our forces often stood with our allies, mostly the USA, in the Korean war for instance and most recently Afghanistan. CAC have been involved in civil wars (e.g. Rwanda) and for years Canadians were renowned world wide as peacekeepers. Surely these later day warriors deserve remembering too.
There was a cost to all this involvement, and while a few people profit from the wars, and many of us benefit from the outcomes, we are safe. The men and women on the front lines bear the brunt of it. Some of the veterans have received short shrift from the government, so especially think of them on Friday.
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Obviously I’m writing this before we know the results of the U.S. presidential election. Regardless of the outcome, we’ll be in for interesting times. There is talk that if Donald Trump wins, some Democrats will move to Canada, and they would be welcome. But what if Hillary Clinton wins, and Trump supporters head north? Would we be joyous to see them?
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On the local scene there will be two meetings of interest next week. On Wednesday, Nov.16, Ben Parfitt and Ana Simeon will be at TRU from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. as part of the BC Sierra Club’s Keep the Peace tour. The Peace of course is the Peace River. The Site C project seems remote to us, but the entire province will feel its impact one way or another.
Everyone who has concerns over seniors’ care is invited to attend a meeting hosted by the Senior’s Advisory Council on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m., at the Library meeting room. The future of the former Cariboo Lodge site and the location of the promised 70 new residential beds are the topics to be discussed.
Diana French is a freelance columnist, former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian, and book author.