Category: Canadian politics

Are Canadians forgetting their history?

Last week was the commemoration of the battle of Vimy Ridge one of the most defining moments in Canadian history. As public figures and politicians issued statements on the significance of the event. Anecdotal evidence

shows that the actual memory of the battle is fading from Canadians memories. To that end, Ipsos released a poll that showed a majority of Canadians could not recognize the Vimy Memorial.

The monument at Vimy Ridge is featured on both the $20 bill and the $2 coin, and yet 70% of those polled were unwilling to even hazard a guess, saying that they ‘didn’t know’ the distinctive shape of the Vimy Memorial, one of Canada’s great examples of public art. Others thought that the monument represented the Twin Towers / World Trade Centre (3%), the Washington Monument (1%), or unspecified mentions of memorials to the First World War (>0%), Second World War (1%), or war memorials in general (3%).

One the most concerning parts of the study has to be that millennial’s recognition of the monument plummets to 13%. Because they are the future of remembrance and to see these alarmingly low numbers is concerning just a year after the Centennial remembrance. To turn these numbers around, I would love to see more of a focus for students in high school on key dates in Canada’s military history. Finally, if we do not remember our history. How can we honour the past?

Battle of Vimy Ridge

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Conservatives Hold Marathon Vote in the House of Commons

Here’s some background.

After the defeat of the Conservative motion, the opposition tabled 260 motions opposing pieces of legislation that were scheduled to be voted on Thursday evening.

Those motions, known as “opposed votes,” state that there is no support for 260 different lines from the supplementary and interim estimates of the government, and need to be voted on before the actual vote can take place on the legislation itself.

Supplementary and interim estimates are routine bills that are tabled several times each year and act essentially as bridges between the money laid out in federal budgets and the adjusted amounts that reflect what departments actually use or need.

Because the estimates deal with money, they are considered votes of confidence.

And as is the case with any vote on a matter of confidence, defeat on any of the 260 motions opposing different lines of the estimates could trigger an election.