Longtime readers of this column will know that I am a Canadian. Sometimes proud, sometimes less so—our past, like our present, is not pristine or utopian. But this country has given me everything, and I am grateful.
Today is Remembrance Day, when we reflect on those who offered—and gave—everything in return.
What do we owe them—the farmers and fishermen, the factory workers and retail employees, the doctors, the teachers, the young students who set everything aside when called on to fight? What do we owe the thousands of Canadians who choose a career in the Armed Forces, writing out the proverbial “blank cheque” to the citizens of our country?
I know this much: we owe them much more than just a poppy and a prayer.
I have been alternately saddened and sickened by the separatist movement in Alberta. I’ve wondered what my fellow citizens see in their lives that is so fundamentally awful and unliveable that it can’t be addressed and fixed.
And I’ll admit I have wrongly blamed conservative voices in this province for fomenting this overblown discontent.
I have strong small-c conservative values and instincts (I have strong small-l liberal ones too). Foremost among my conservative values is my love of country. Respect for Canada, its people, its institutions, its history and its potential has been the bedrock of Canadian conservatism for as long as I have been alive.
Meanwhile, I had never thought of “quitting” as a core conservative value. In a province where Peter Lougheed took Pierre Trudeau to the mat over resources—and won—I am embarrassed to see our current leaders throwing in the towel and turning their backs on the flag because they aren’t up to the fight.
The people pushing this folly are not conservative. Conservatives still love and respect their country as much as they ever did. Conservatives still have the appetite and the energy to make Canada better.
This was proven by Thomas Lukaszuk’s “Forever Canadian” petition campaign. Lukaszuk himself served as deputy premier and education minster in Alberta’s Progressive Conservative government—his credentials as an Alberta conservative are impeccable.
The Forever Canadian campaign to have Alberta declare as policy that we will remain in Canada, or put it to a vote, was a positive and reassuring movement that gave all of us, regardless of policy stances or party affiliations, an opportunity to speak up.
You can bet there are more conservatives’ signatures on that petition as there are from any other political background.
I am reassured. With almost half a million Albertans signing on, I know where we stand: united, as Albertans and Canadians.
To everyone who lives here and participates and contributes to our communities, our province, and our country, I know we are doing right by Canadians who have gone before us.
For those whom we are remembering this November 11, we will not break faith. We owe you that.
Canada is still worth fighting for.