Pause to remember

With Remembrance Day falling on a weekday again this year, it is difficult for many to attend services at their local cenotaph due to work commitments or the myriad of other demands on our day-to-day lives.
But that’s no excuse not to pause tomorrow at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to remember and reflect on the brave men and women who have died fighting to protect our nation’s freedom and values from tyranny, oppression, and now terror.
As memories of the First and Second World Wars slowly fade with each passing year, it is only natural that future generations either forget, or never truly realize, the courage of the tens of thousands of young Canadians who dutifully marched off to war willing to die for their country on some distant battlefield—far from home and loved ones. Which is why Remembrance Day is—and must always remain—an enduring symbol of those sacrifices.
Honouring our war dead, however, involves more than simply wearing a poppy in the days leading up to Nov. 11. It means exercising our right to vote, standing up against intolerance and injustice, and rallying to support a worthy cause. It means taking the responsibility of ensuring a great nation, one the entire world can emulate, is passed down to our children and grandchildren.
They died so the rest of us could live in a country where freedom, democracy, and the rule of law prevail. And in the eternal hope that no more would Canada have to bury so many of its young.
It is a precious mantle we are tasked to carry each and every day.
Lest we forget.