It's about our troops
| National Post |
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
We have a message for Canada's "antiwar" movement : Your mask is slipping. We know you like to pretend that you hate war and love soldiers -- occasionally you even claim that you hate war because you love soldiers -- but the push to have "Support Our Troops" stickers removed from Toronto fire trucks and ambulances shows a discouraging lack of mental clarity on the issue.
The Mayor of Toronto, David Miller, claims to see your point when he defends this act of vandalism. "To many of us," he explained yesterday, "[the ribbon] means support for our troops. To some people it's a symbol of support for the war in Afghanistan, and [EMS] Chief [Bruce] Farr and others in the city have received a number of calls from people who are concerned about the city expressing an opinion on the war."
On this score, His Worship must be judged either very ignorant or very cowardly. In cities like Halifax and Edmonton, where the Canadian military is strongly integrated into the life of the community and one might conceivably have neighbours serving in the Armed Forces, there is no quarrel or ambiguity about the meaning of the ribbon. It's a symbol of awareness, grief and gratitude. It expresses the simple hope that our fighting men and women will come home safe from combat.
| National Post |
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
|
OTTAWA -As Toronto councillors discussed yesterday whether to overturn a decision to remove the Support Our Troops bumper stickers from city fire trucks and ambulances, 50 kilometres eastward along Highway 401 mourners prepared for the funeral of Trooper Darryl Caswell in Bowmanville today.
Perhaps Mayor David Miller should take time out to explain to the family of Trooper Caswell, who was killed in Afghanistan last week, why he supports not only the removal of the decals but the early withdrawal of Canadian Forces from Afghanistan.
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