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Why is Canada botching the Great War centenary?
J.L. GRANATSTEIN



The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War will be marked all across the world in August. For the next 4 1/2 years, there will be memorials to the dead, celebrations of victories, lamentations at defeats, re-enactments and countless public events. Germany and France are co-operating to commemorate the terrible battle at Verdun, which bled both countries white. France is also creating joint plans with Britain. The Belgian province of Flanders, where years of war devastated the countryside and towns, has allocated €55-million for commemoration, and the remainder of Belgium, most of it occupied by the Germans for four terrible years, will spend even more.



nd Canada? The government has a long list of events and commemorations, to be sure. But there is no new money behind this string of events – government departments, agencies and Crown corporations have been ordered to finance the commemoration costs out of existing budgets. This means that Heritage Canada (lead on the centenary, along with Veterans Affairs), which is already unable to spend enough on culture or television documentaries to meet demand, will have to cut back even further. It means that Veterans Affairs, which is already under fire for its cack-handed way of dealing with PTSD in serving soldiers and veterans, is coming under additional attacks for spending part of its budget on old wars when the vets of recent ones are suffering. And this means that National Defence, which has undergone savage cuts with the troops leaving Afghanistan, will need to dip deep into its operations and maintenance budget to send soldiers to ceremonies.

What’s going on here? We all know that burying the deficit remains the Conservative government’s primary target as it looks toward the next election. We know that the War of 1812 bicentennial, for which Ottawa earmarked some $28-million, was attacked as a waste of money on a forgotten conflict, not least by Canadian historians, who should have been expected to know better. And we know that Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a fervent supporter of the Afghan war when he took office in early 2006, lost his enthusiasm as the casualties and costs mounted and public opinion on the conflict turned tepid, then ice-cold.

Critics have repeatedly talked about the Conservatives focusing their pitch to voters on the military and Canadians’ glorious record in the field. The reality, a litany of cutbacks and withheld funding, is much different – and shameful.

The Great War needs to be marked in Canada, and marked well. About 620,000 Canadians put on uniform and more than 60,000 died in action or in training. Another 170,000 were wounded or injured. The Canadian Corps became the strongest formation in the British Expeditionary Force, the Empire’s shock troops. Its four divisions won victory after victory, and literally smashed the German army in the battles of the Hundred Days that ended the war in November, 1918, with a de facto German surrender. At the very least, this war record must be marked and remembered.

But the Great War years also changed the homeland. Women relatives of Canadian soldiers got the vote in 1917, and thousands of women left farms and hearths to work in munitions factories that produced a quarter of the artillery shells for British and Dominion forces by 1917. Prohibition cut off alcohol sales; millions were raised in Victory Loan campaigns; income tax came into effect (as a “temporary” wartime measure); and farmers and workers began to organize politically as inflation hit everyone. Above all, conscription in 1917 split the nation, pitting farmers against city dwellers, labour against bosses, French against English. That year’s election, won by the pro-conscription Unionist government of Sir Robert Borden, was the most racist in our history.

We certainly don’t want to celebrate all of these wartime events and changes, but we need to talk about them and learn from them. We need TV documentaries on the war and its battles and on the events, positive and negative, on the home front. We need books, conferences, lectures and displays in our national and local museums. We need to remember.

This requires some modest new funding. There will be a surplus by 2015, and there will be money available – if the government wishes to use it. There will also be the money to ensure that veterans get the help they require. It’s not a zero-sum game.

We really must remember the Great War properly. It was when Canada stood proudly on the world stage for the first time, and it would be a disgrace for the government to shortchange it.

   

Just read this and wondered if the US was going to do anything in regards to WWI. This is the link I found. We did not enter the war untill later so we have 2 years to go before we start our Centennial for the War to end all Wars.

http://worldwar-1centennial.org/

   

In the political world, no votes = no money...

   

Liberal Canadians loathe Canada's history of manly and courageous virtues. They'd rather have everyone forget that the Canadian man was at one time one of the most feared warriors on the world's battlefields.

Yep, you don't want the youth getting their heads clogged up with notions of honor, sacrifice, and love of country. That gets in the way of clogging up their heads with notions of pacifism and transnational globalism.

   

Like Harper, you mean? But absolutely. Since we're continually told we have to tighten our belts and cut spending, I'd rather cut here than, as has been pointed out, services to veterans.

   

Sad but true.

British TV has something on the Great War almost every day, be it a doc about the war,
a single regiment, or the effects of war on a single town.
There is a show called Time Team, they have been running around, digging up the battlefields in particular areas.

All British schoolchildren will at some point travel to France for several days
of tours.

While the flavour is usually "isn't it a shame so many died", rather than
"honour, duty, country", they are at least doing SOMETHING.

I don't buy the money argument, it's bullshit. It's isn't that much money to
spend remembering, not compared to overall budgets.

Even a school project to find out who in the area served and their histories is valuable.

   

I tried starting a thread about this a while ago but something went amiss.

Here are a bunch of links to what our friends and allies are doing. We, apparently, are doing nothing to commemorate an historic event that profoundly changed this country and it's direction like nothing else has since Confederation.

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembr ... remembered

http://www.1914.org/why_remember/

http://www.visitlondon.com/tag/first-wo ... -centenary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World_War_centenary

http://ww100.govt.nz/

   

The very first battle that the Canadian Corps was involved in (Easter, 1915) was an extraordinary one in which they suffered the first use of poison gas, yet held a very fragile line. If the line had collapsed and had the German army exploited it, there was nothing left to stop them from reaching Paris in about two days time. Over 2,000 Canadians died on Easter Weekend, that year while saving France. Had that been an American army, there would be movies and popular stories about their heroism.

   

Every Man Remembered

Every man remembered 1,117,077 Commonwealth Service men and women were killed during the First World War. The losses were felt in almost every town and village in the UK and throughout what was then the British Empire.

The Royal British Legion, working in partnership with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, would like to see each and every one of these men and women individually commemorated by throughout the WW1 centenary years. Every Man Remembered is an opportunity for you to be part of a great collective act of Remembrance.

The inspiration for Every Man Remembered came from 14-yr old Gemma who contacted us following a battlefield tour of France and Belgium with her local scout group. "I know that not everyone can be remembered as individuals, but I felt it was a shame for some people to have dozens of poppies and crosses while others had no one left to remember them."

We've launched a teaser for the full website that will go live in a few months. Then you will be able to select a casualty to remember and leave a message, image, dedication etc.

TV Historian Dan Snow is working with the Legion on this exciting new 5-year project and you can watch his introductory video at http://www.everymanremembered.org where you can also sign up to be kept informed of the project.

As the Custodian of Remembrance, The Royal British Legion will be leading the nation in honouring each and every sacrifice made. It is an opportunity for us to come together and reaffirm our commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with all who serve today.

   

A World War I centennial commemoration won't throw as much shade to the Americans as an 1812 commemoration, so I can see why the "My Name is Joe" crowd would be less interested.

   

The affect of WWI on little Canada was almost as profound on us as your civil war was for your country. Partly because of the Regimental system that the British Commonwealth used, Whole towns of men were wiped out in some cases. There are little frontier settlements in Western Canada where none of the men returned and they became ghost towns. It was a long, shocking war for Canada and every little town and village (in my part of the country, anyway) has a cenotaph at a crossroads, each with lots of names on them. 10% of our population volunteered for service in both wars. That is a lot, especially without much or any conscription.

That Canadian Expeditionary Force and the Australians were the only Imperial troops that won battles and it was achieved under Canadian leadership..

   

Yeah, too bad the government in power right now is Conservative...this has far more to do with balancing the budget ahead of the next election than it does political ideology.

   

click on this...

a list of all the countries and some of the things they are doing.







Kinda sums it up right there.

   

I can tell you for certain that it is a recent edit, too. Two weeks ago, Canada wasn't on that page at all. I was disappointed but not surprised.

   

Our little crossroads cenotaph has been re-built, expanded by another World War, by Korea and I believe that another name will be added. This is the home town of the highest ranking Canadian to be killed in Afghanistan, Col. Geoff Parker.

Anyway, November 11th typically brings out around 3000 people to this cenotaph. There is another on another crossroads in the same town (now) five miles to the West and it is packed, too.

The people of Canada want to remember. Our politicians should listen an take notice. The people sure want to remember around here, anyway. Perhaps, it is because this is an older part of the country and roots are a little deeper. I suspect that Alberta and BC is no different from us in that respect.

   

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