P. J. O'Rourke.I had long been impressed by the elaborate courtesies extended to former American presidents by their successors, "out of respect for the office," even when their earlier relations were not warm. I was determined to act in the same fashion toward my predecessor.
During the 1984 campaign I had promised a commission of inquiry into the Petro-Canada financial transactions. I was aware of substantive allegations about prominent Liberals - including some close to the Prime Minister - making millions on the deal when Petro-Canada was set up. Upon reflection, I declined to proceed when it became clear that Trudeau would be forced to testify, thereby being caught up in the media circus that could badly harm him and his family. Because I believed it would be wrong to drag a former Prime Minister through the mud, I cancelled plans for the inquiry ... (Mulroney, Brian. Memoirs: 1939-1993. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2007. Page 529)
Here's a tip for Warren Kinsella, and the rest of the Liberal party. it wasn't the Gomery Commission that dealt the shattering blow, it was the acts committed by members of the Liberal party that the Gomery Commission investigated that dealt the blow.
The inspiration for this column came from Father William J. De Souza'a Column in today's National Post, Take Up Our Quarrel.
Every year the question of why we wear the poppy comes up, and every year I have felt unsatisfied with the answer. This year, with the Afghanistan mission and the 'surrender poppy' in the news, the question is more important, the answers less satisfying.
We wear the poppy because of the reference to it in Lieut. Col. John McCrae's (1872-1918) iconic poem In Flanders Field. His image of the poppies growing on fresh graves, against a back drop of white crosses, creates a powerful visual:
In Flanders Field the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row.
It is through this visual that the poppy has become universally recognized as the symbol of dead soldiers. However, the poem doesn't stop at providing a nice visual connection between the WWI battlefields and modern day Canada. It also provides with the reason why we should wear a poppy.Between the crosses row on row,
that mark our place...
We are the Dead, Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
And that demand from the dead, that is the reason we wear a poppy. The poppy is a convenant between you and them, by wearing it you are committing to take up their quarrel. It is not enough to remember them, we must also remember why they died, why they made the sacrifice they did. And they are not subtle in reminding us so:If you break faith with those of us who dieBe sure to wear a poppy tomorrow, and remember that by doing so you are keeping the faith with those who die; and that means taking the torch from their failing hands.
We shall not sleep, though the poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
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