Remembrance Day 2022 Remarks

Canada’s 13th Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker said this:

“I am a Canadian,

a free Canadian,

free to speak without fear,

free to worship in my own way,

free to stand for what I think right,

free to oppose what I believe wrong,

free to choose those

who shall govern my country.

This heritage of freedom

I pledge to uphold

for myself and all mankind.”

Just south of the 49th parallel… Prime Minister Diefenbaker’s American counterpart at the time - John F. Kennedy as president of the United States noted that freedom isn’t free.

He said… “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

It is on this day, that we pause to remember and reflect upon the sacrifices that the Canadian men and women who have served, and continue to serve, in our armed forces have made for all Canadians.

?It is because of their commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights that we are able to live our lives the way we do in the greatest country in the world.

?But let us not simply utter words of appreciation but rather discover ways to live by them.

?During times of war, individual acts of heroism occur frequently; however, only a few are ever recorded and receive official recognition.

?By remembering all who have served, we recognize their hardships and fears, taken upon themselves so willingly that we could live in peace.

That got me to thinking about my own Great Grandfather. Reuben Henry Lewington who by all accounts lived a rather ordinary life in Bethnal Green in the east end of London, England.

?I have often wondered what compelled a 37 year old man with an 8 year old son to leave his family to enlist in the first world war to serve his country….

?What compelled him to serve is far off lands he had never visited and to defend people he had never met and whose language he did not speak.

?Was that his pledge to uphold? To protect his heritage of freedom.

?Private Reuben Henry Lewington was killed in action on May 9, 1917 at 40 years of age. There are no documented great acts of heroism nor did he receive any formal recognition. He had no high rank or other distinction.

?He served. He fought. He died.

?My Great Grandfather was buried far from home in Plot 6, Row J, site 31 Doiran Military Cemetery in Greece. His grave is among the other 1,337 souls who call that cemetery their final resting place close to the Macedonian border.

?There lie mostly officers and men from the 22nd and 26th divisions who fell during the fighting in April and May of 1917.

?My great grandfather’s sacrifice… like the names carved on the cenotaph just down the street from us… is somewhat tangible. There is a grave. There is a plaque. We remember.

?I’m grateful to all those who have served and all those who continue to serve. We are fortunate to once again be joined by members of the 20th Independent Field Battery of the Royal Canadian Army.

?I’m grateful for those who serve to protect us on domestic soil - our friends from the RCMP and more locally, the dedicated professionals of our fire department.

?Each organization, in their own way, are examples of this heritage of freedom we enjoy.

?Genuinely thank you for all that you do.

?I’m also grateful to all of you for your presence here today… taking time to contemplate the incredible gift of democracy and freedom that we all received through those historic sacrifices.

?I’m grateful to live in a country where the rule of law and an independent judiciary are something that still matter.

?I’m grateful for a country where we resolve our differences through dialogue and debate.

?I’m grateful to live in a country of peace. Of respect and tolerance. Of kindness and honour.

?These qualities are alive in our national conscience because we hold them as precious and because we know, at least on some level, what it took to protect those things.

?And as Canadians, we know the impact of war lingers. From both world wars to more recent armed conflicts – think Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan and even Haiti. We do not make something “normal” that is not. We, as Canadians, do not look away. We do not erase or cancel.

?We must nurture and defend the various parts of our complex constitution.

?But President Kennedy’s words still echo in my ears… “We must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them”.

?We all have a responsibility to protect that heritage of freedom. And I’m not talking about taking up arms and fighting foreign foes on far away lands. But there are ways we can live by our words rather than just utter them.

?Elections in this country rarely see significant voter turnout. A right that many quite literally die to obtain is something we collectively as a society don’t take seriously.

?Alberta’s last provincial election in 2019 actually had the highest voter turnout since 1982 – the highest turnout in almost 40 years… at 68%.

?Stirling’s most recent municipal election in October of last year was, in fact, the shortest campaign of my political career. There weren’t enough candidates to even require an election. I simply signed up and here I am.

?We must also hold our governments to account. Partisan politics and the noise it creates aside, we must question decisions and insist on transparency. We have that right and an obligation to use it.

?Your own Village Council makes decisions on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month in this very building that impact your daily lives.

?When we meet to talk budgets and determine how much of your hard earned money we take – there is no one in the gallery.

?When we meet to adjust land use bylaws which determine what you are allowed to do and how you enjoy your own private property – there is no one in the gallery.

?You want to know when the room is packed and we know democracy is truly alive?

?Cats. That’s the bylaw that got the greatest turnout in my 3 terms on Council so far. Cats.

?So as we remember the service and the sacrifice today, as we remember the tradition of freedom those men and women fought to preserve…. Like my Great Grandfather Reuben Henry… Think about how you, in your own way, strengthen our heritage of freedom to truly live by the words we share with each other today.

So I’ll end where I began and repeat the words of Prime Minister Diefenbaker:

?“I am a Canadian,

a free Canadian,

free to speak without fear,

free to worship in my own way,

free to stand for what I think right,

free to oppose what I believe wrong,

free to choose those

who shall govern my country.

This heritage of freedom

I pledge to uphold

for myself and all of us.”

Lest we forget.