Editor:
I owe a big apology to all those Canadians that fought in both world wars, that I forgot to mention in my last letter regarding this subject, I gave recognition to the 115,000 Canadians that died fighting to make and keep Canada a free and democratic country in both of these wars but forgot to mention the great number that also made sacrifices for those of us that today call Canada our home.
All the things that we today take for granted, even the right to criticize our government, was freely given to us by the sacrifices made by these dedicated Canadians.
I would like to, at this time, formally recognize that in the First World War more than 600,000 Canadians and in the Second World War another one million Canadians’ sacrificed all that they had, some coming home terribly maimed suffering greatly for the rest of their lives with their injuries.
This is a debt that we should never forget, raising the question, who owns Canada? Were these sacrifices made for a few, or were these sacrifices made for all Canadians including those not yet born and those that have come to Canada’s shores to make Canada home.
From Vancouver Island to the distant shores of Newfoundland, from the 49th parallel almost to the North Pole, as the song says, this country belongs to you and me.
Our brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, mothers and fathers bought and paid for every square inch of this country with the very blood of their bodies and the spirits of their souls.
Mr. Nakada says Canada has no democracy. Certainly Canada’s form of democracy has flaws. Perfection comes as we each work to understand and contribute to the ever evolving process.
There are those who think Canada should reduce the number of immigrants into the county, or limit where they come from. Others say immigrants take jobs away.
Canada needs a substantial flow of people coming into this country to replace the retiring millions that are no longer paying taxes as workers, it is these collected taxes that helps pay for much of Canada’s social programs that so many Canadians are dependent on.
A growing country needs continued economic development and progressive industries to support the ever growing number of Canadians that depend upon the government for their very survival.
Doug Wilson
Williams Lake
