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by Robert Henderson
Now on Twitter
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Our 1812 Heroes Deserve Better
Are
you sitting down? I have something shocking to tell you.
Here it is. The Canadian Armed Forces does not officially
recognize the War of 1812 as part of its heritage. Most
Canadians will find this ridiculous. "Of course the Department
of National Defence (DND) recognizes its 1812 roots", some might
say. Well you would be wrong.
Silly as
it might seem, a couple of people in DND concocted the idea
decades ago that the Canadian Armed Forces began with the Militia
Act of 1855. Lets |
stop
right there. 1855? Talk about picking a date
of zero historical significance. Sure if they said Confederation in
1867, DND may have some sort of credible justification. Still 1867 was
really a political union of partner provinces and English and French
Canadians, New Brunswickers, plus Nova Scotians were around long before
that date.
I am not going to bore you with the run-around logic of figuring out
when Canada really began because that is how some policy wonk
would suck you into an endless process, then bleed you dry. However I
will say that all the people that eventually joined politically in 1867,
where fighting side-by-side back in 1812 for their freedom to make that
choice. To me, the War of 1812 forged our people together by the heat
of battle and that common experience laid the groundwork for
confederation decades later.
Because of this, many Canadians feel they won that war. Yet, the United
States are the ones who have recognized the feats of bravery performed
by their troops in that conflict by the awarding of battle honour
"streamers" to American units that claim a history back to that time.
Here in Canada, all units are forbidden to trace their heritage back
beyond the wonderfully obscure date of 1855. Even the British, who
often forget the conflict - except of course their burning of Washington
- honoured their troops with Battle Honours shortly after the war. So
in scoring nations honouring the memory of their 1812 veterans with
battle honours it is :
United Kingdom: 1
United States: 1
Canada: 0...goose egg...nada....zip.
So where does this decision come from that stopped the lineage of the
modern Canadian forces at 1855? Surely it was the brainchild of a Prime
Minister or Minister of National Defence at one point in our history?
As far as I can tell, no. In fact, my impression is a couple of
bureaucrats got together and decreed it. Really. Then they had to
justify it, and "Ta-da" the 1855 Militia Act was picked.
I truly feel for the Minister of National Defence in this situation. He
has to rely on advice from his staff,* and some of his
staff likely told him that in order to change this situation he would
have to go to Parliament and introduce a bill to give him the power to
award War of 1812 Battle Honours to the Canadian Forces.
Not so fast. Since I feel our honourable Minister of National Defence
is being fed a load of baloney, I am going to try to help. I profess I
am not a Constitutional Lawyer but the last time I looked, the Canadian
military was governed by the National Defence Act of 1985 which made
previous acts like the 1855 one null and void. In that Act (clause
12.2) it clearly states: "the Minister may make regulations for the
organization, training, discipline, efficiency, administration and good
government of the Canadian Forces and generally for carrying the
purposes and provisions of this Act into effect." So Mr Minister. You
already have the power.
Before I turn this into a legal urinating contest with a few
people at DND I simply want to say the average Canadian believes Canadian
soldiers, who back in 1812 fought, died, lost limbs, and had their homes
burnt, deserve better. Frankly most of DND's staff likely feel the same
way. Our 1812 heroes deserve to be remembered as a part of
the traditions of our modern military. Their hard-fought battle honours
have been stolen from them by a handful of bureaucrats and we
need to take them back. I suspect the Prime Minister feels the same
way. However in Ottawa, somewhere in the maze of cubicles of one of the
many DND buildings, a couple of staff members appear to wield a
greater power: the power to say NO to the Prime Minister and Canada.
It is time to change this. Everyone likes to use the phrase "Lest we
Forgot" but here is where the rubber hits the road. Go to the below
website and send a message to the Minister of National Defence. It will
take you 20 seconds. Even better, add a couple of lines to personalize
it. They Fought for Us. Will you Fight for Them?
* Note: I
wish to point out the majority of DND staff do fantastic work and
all Canadians should give them thanks. It is a couple of
misguided ones that have caused this situation, and other Public
Servants are working hard behind the scenes to effect change.
We need to support them.
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