Sir: Following the terrible individual terrorist acts in both Quebec, and Ottawa recently, a number of politicians and news media persons have referred to the situation as “Canada losing its innocence.”
I think Justin Trudeau was the one of many who said or thought that this was not the first time something like this has happened in Canada and probably won’t be the last time we hear of such domestic problems here.
A short review of Canadian history includes the following:
There were several confrontations between police and First Nations residents in Ontario and Quebec in the 1990s where lives were lost and others injured on both sides.
There were the FLQ crises in the 1960s and early 1970s, including the murder of Canadian politician James Laporte, as well as mailbox bombings that resulted in some serious injuries. Most of these incidents occurred in Quebec.
If one wants to go way back in early Canadian history, we have the Red River Rebellion in Manitoba, and The Riel Rebellion
in what is now Saskatchewan, well documented history. Also one of the Father’s of Confederation of this country, Darcy McGee was assassinated in those early years of Canada.
Even before Confederation of our country, there was the 1837 Rebellion in then Upper and Lower Canada as well as the 1812-14 war and other conflicts between British, French, and First Nations groups.
Yes, Canada has had long histories of peace time here. We also sent many of our citizens overseas to deal with wars and civil wars in other countries and on other continents. We lost many of our citizens in the name of keeping our country free and keeping the peace. We remember and honour those who never came back, or did come back with lifetime injuries.
If there is an innocence lost, it is of those of our younger generations who were not exposed to our domestic conflicts, and terrorist activities, who like myself, only read about some of these occurrences in history books or classes at school, read about them in newspapers, or are reminded about them during Remembrance Day services.
Though some may feel Canada has lost its innocence when it comes to acts of terror and war coming right to our doorstep, such as what happened two weeks ago, we should continue to remind future generations of Canadians to “Lest we forget.” Our country of Canada is still much safer for its residents than in many other parts of our world.
Frank Doyle
Chatham
Geeeez….Shivers go down my spine whenever I read comments like this. I respect them and like the history lessons. However… In the 21st century of infinite 'true' information and the ability to obtain real facts. A watchful eye should be aware of cooperate media, politicians, and law enforcement suggesting 'terror attacks' before all evidence is reviewed. The incidents of Quebec and Ontario were not 'terrorist acts'. They were isolated 'criminal acts'. Not even to mention the false flag op going on in Ottawa at that time….(Hmmm???). As for losing our innocence , just a catch phrase for the media opportunists. I'm pretty sure war is not at my door step nor was it in Ottawa. Our country has not been invaded for two centuries. yet our government continually sends troops to invade other countries. I support troops that would put their life at risk for mine. I honour all that have lost their lives for this country. I don't honour or support a government that put them there. Lest we forget that.