Introduction

National Archives of Canada (PA-147723, photo by Star Weekly).

Hungarian Refugee Child in Canada, ca. 1957.

We Canadians are a fortunate people. We live in a country with immense wealth, a rich cultural life, wide-open spaces, and abundant opportunities for most citizens. Yet we take for granted perhaps the most valuable aspect of Canadian life.

We are a free people, living in a peaceful, stable democracy. We are free to choose

who will govern us;
how and where we will live;
how we will worship;
what we will say; and
what we will read.

Our individual rights and freedoms are balanced by a limited number of collective rights (rights that we share as a society). For instance, we are protected as individuals, from persecution due to race, religion, ethnic background, or gender.

Provincial Archives of Manitoba (Events 12, N7539).

Watching Election Results, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 14 September 1926.

Democratic elections are the touchstone of our rights and freedoms. Before the advent of television and radio, urban Canadians frequently gathered around newspaper offices, such as that of the Winnipeg Free Press pictured here, to read the latest news on public bulletin boards.

National Archives of Canada (C-002616).

Sir Wilfrid Laurier on Hustings, Exeter, Ontario, 3 November 1904.

Canadians have direct access to their political leaders. Here, Laurier speaks from the platform of a railway observation car during the federal election campaign.

National Archives of Canada (PA-148752, photo by Winnipeg Free Press).

Chinese Immigrants, Winnipeg, Manitoba, August 1962.

These Chinese refugees, immigrating to Canada from mainland China, are on their way to Toronto, Ontario. The photo was taken at the Winnipeg International Airport.

Unlike the citizens of many countries, then,

we do not fear our government, our police, or our military;
we face no armed invaders; and
our land is not torn by civil war.

Unfortunately, we Canadians do not know the cost of our freedom. We do not know the very heavy sacrifice that has been made to protect our individual and collective rights and freedoms.

National Archives of Canada (PA-124945, photo by Windsor Star).

Celebration of Passover, Windsor, Ontario, April 1957.

Rabbi Samuel S. Stollman celebrates Passover with his children, Shifra and Yaev.

National Archives of Canada (PA-142400, photo by Montreal Gazette).

British Children in Canada, Montreal, Quebec, 7 July 1940.

During the Battle of Britain in the Second World War, Canada was a safe refuge for many British children. These children were members of the third contingent of evacuees.

National Archives of Canada (PA-136041, photo by Harold G. Aikman).

Captain R. Seaborne Gives Absolution to Dying Man on Roadside near Caen, France, 15 July 1944.

This death was one of the more than three thousand casualties that Canada suffered before it liberated Caen in July 1944.

Much of that sacrifice has been borne by the Canadian military. In the twentieth century, Canada has fought in two world wars, the Korean conflict, and the Gulf War. Canada has also participated in every United Nations peacekeeping operation. In each of these engagements, the men and women of the Canadian military have protected our national interests -- and us.

To defend us, the men and women in the Canadian military have disrupted their lives, left their homes and families, taken up arms, risked their own well-being, been wounded, and, in some cases, given their lives.

Sadly, the historical record shows that we are not always grateful. Admittedly, during and immediately after these wars, Canadians have shown appreciation for the military's sacrifices. Communities have hosted welcome home parades and built memorials. But, within a generation, the memory of sacrifice, and the sense of appreciation for the men and women who have made these sacrifices, has faded. Families remember, but as a nation and a people, we forget.

Kewley Family, Peace River, Alberta, ca. 1938.

Lawrence Kewley and his mother and father are photographed on their homestead.

Death Notice.

Although Lawrence had lost a half-brother in the First World War, he volunteered soon after Canada declared war against Germany in 1939. After serving overseas for almost six years, he was shot and killed in the final days of the conflict. The Kewley family was close, but Lawrence wrote few letters. His family would never know what his personal war was like.

Canadians are not a warlike people. We tend only to think of our military in periods of crisis, and, unlike in many other countries, our military has a strictly limited role within Canada. The members of the armed forces are our servants and not our masters. They are not a visible presence in most of Canada. They rarely have seen action in Canada, and then only at the order of politicians responding to extraordinary circumstances that they believed threatened the public safety. For example, in 1970, the federal government ordered the use of troops against the FLQ (Front de libération du Québec), a minority faction that employed terror in its fight for Quebec independence. The outrage and continuing controversies surrounding that incident suggest the uneasiness with which we see the military used in a law enforcement role in Canada. In contrast, we appreciate military assistance in domestic crises like the 1997 Red River flood. However, most of us probably do not know that the military also plays a behind-the-scenes role in such activities as search and rescue and fisheries patrols. And as a people and within our school systems, we pay little attention to our military's proud record of wartime service.

We wrongly think of ourselves as living far away from most of the potential dangers of the world. Thus, we are proud of our Canadian peacekeepers, but, in general, we see them as more important to the countries in which they serve than to Canada itself. Perhaps by recalling and celebrating the history of the Canadian military, we will learn the true cost of our freedom and value it accordingly.

Education