Wednesday, January 03, 2007
NATIONAL BANDWAGON STALLS
In other corners I cautioned against the proposal of the Dominion Institute to provide a state funeral for the last surviving veteran of the First World War. One of the obvious reasons for concern was, what if the veterans do not want it?
It seems that is the case.
It would have been nice, some would even say respectful, if the Dominion Institute had asked the surviving veterans what they wanted before starting their campaign. Even if Rudyard Griffiths was too busy driving his band-wagon it might have occurred to the minister of veterans affairs to look into the issue before Parliament passed a unanimous vote in favour of providing a state funeral.
Clearly Canadians honour and respect our veterans, particularly those of the two World Wars. But now we are stuck in the position of appearing to be pressuring these three most revered individuals into be being buried in a way that they do not want - and no one even thought to ask them.
(link via Closet Liberal)