The Stephen Harper government’s growing emphasis on Canada’s military history is disturbing. While the country’s military experiences are important components of its development, its history is far broader and deeper than wars and battles,
The government has budgeted $83 million over the next several years to commemorate the nation’s military history and the achievements of its soldiers. That’s in addition to about $30 million already spent in commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, which the government billed as “The Fight for Canada.”
It would probably be more accurate to call it “The War Canadians Don’t Care About.” Despite the spending of millions on re-enactments, the minting of special coins and the unveiling of a new national monument on Parliament Hill, the reaction was more or less a national shrug — less than a third of Canadians supported the government’s stand on the commemorations and only about 15 per cent of Canadians “felt more patriotic as a result of the celebrations,” according to a 2013 Nanos poll.
The role of the military and Canada’s wartime experiences should not be ignored, but neither should they be used to promote, as the Canadian History Association calls the Harper government’s direction, “a pattern of politically charged heritage policy.”
Should we rewrite history? Certainly. As we learn more about the past, we understand it better, often in a different light, and our perceptions change with our new knowledge.
But the Harper government appears bent on twisting history to its own political purposes, rather than a on gaining a clearer understanding.
