For Shame: Where are the Poppie's?

Every year the number of people wearing a poppie becomes less and less visible.

The month of November is one designated to remembering our fallen soldiers.

However, as I have mentioned in the past, the number of people taking the time to carry a poppie as a symbolic gesture is sadly dwindling. It escapes me how we do so.

I live in Quebec so I get to see how the two solitudes deal with Remembrance Day on the 11th of this month. Most on the English-speaking side seem to have an unquestionable respect for soldiers. On the French side, things get a little more theoretical.

One need only to observe what I mean. In places with high concentration of Anglos, the number of poppie's seen rises. In Franco areas they become more sparse. In areas with new immigrants the poppie is absent. What connection does a Muslim from Algeria have with North Americans fighting Nazi's or Imperial Germany right?

This is not to say French-Canadians don't observe the 11th I'm sure many do, but if they had their way the act as though they wouldn't have this day despite the high number of French-Canadians who served n the military during the Great Wars.

Regardless, I see a drop across the board in any language or culture.

On television it becomes even more glaring. RDS sports broadcaster's to their credit all carry the poppie. Athletes understand the notion of team spirit, sacrifice and identity. So we shouldn't be surprised.

It is on the news networks where things become odd, if not unacceptable. From what I have seen on Radio-Canada (CBC which is a nationally funded station), RDI and other news outlets, very few if anyone is wearing a poppy.

So why the cold shoulder?

It's probably ideologically driven. Quebec has a certain way of looking at things. We all know this and this is fine. In fact, this country could use different ideas from time to time that come from here.

However, in this instance Quebec could not be more wrong. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for not doing things and other times they are plain excuses.

Of course, the prevailing belief is that Quebec did not want to go to fight an Imperial war on behalf of the British Empire. It was only after conscription were we forced to enlist and serve. Ergo, to nationalists they are taking a political stand.

Therein lies the problem that has gripped this society for decades: the politicization of every facet of our lives.

Perhaps they (soldiers) were sent into the hell halls of Europe unwillingly. No one asks them (nationalists) to forget this. The point is that they served. How can this be denied?

Quebec intellectualism is predicated on politics. Its beginning and end points revolves around every political angle. The process of intellectualism independent of political outlooks is absent.

That Quebecers reduced the sacrifices and deaths of their brethren to a mere political calculation is indeed unfortunate. The wanton dismissal and denial in their historical memory of our soldiers is most ungenerous.

It is also plain ignorance for a society that claims "to remember" (Je me souviens), just how wrong (and quite possibly ungrateful) we can be.