Not cost of war, but price of peace
Re: “The cost of war”, (Citizen, Nov. 8))
While I appreciate the editorial which alludes to the sacrifice of so many Canadians in the First and Second World Wars, given the title of the article I cannot help feel that the author has slightly missed the point.
There is a price to be paid for the freedoms this country enjoys today. That price has been and remains the exercising of the national conscience by engaging in just war against tyranny and oppression. Certainly, our freedom as a country was paid for in large measure by those very Canadians mentioned in the editorial (both those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and those who came home broken).
However, it is not the cost of war that we should recall on Remembrance Day, because that reduces the notion of war as something waged for its own sake, which is certainly not the case. No, it is the price of peace that we need to focus upon, as that is the enduring factor which subsequent generations of Canadians who enjoy that peace must appreciate. Our democratic system, our constitution, and our very place as a nation in the world are all part of the liberty we enjoy as a country and that is what was “bought” with the lives of those we remember.
Perhaps when we pause to reflect upon the fallen on Nov. 11, we should also contemplate how we as Canadian citizens appreciate this great and free country of ours and whether we are truly worthy of the peace we enjoy and of the price paid on our behalf.
I should also point out that there are subsequent conflicts, such as the Korean War, the protracted war in Afghanistan, and the myriad United Nations missions in between that Canada has engaged in that should also have been mentioned. The veterans have not gone. They are still among us. In lesser numbers than post-world war years, for sure, but many still serve today. In fact, many are overseas protecting Canadians and Canadian interests abroad as I write in the comfort of my home here in the Cowichan Valley.
No, it is not the “cost of war” we must contemplate, but the “price of peace.”
Russ Meades
Shawnigan Lake