I have been lucky enough never to know the fear of having a loved one head off to war. My grandpa Chorney was a navy man but as he was heading overseas to join the battle in World War II, the war ended on his way there.
My uncle was a proud soldier, he drove tanks, but he is twelve years older than my mother and was retired long before I was born so I never knew the worry of having him in danger.
However, I can imagine the overwhelming relief when a loved one returns home. He or she is back in Canada and should be safe, you shouldn’t have to live with the fear that something could happen to them. You shouldn’t have to fear they could be shot down on home soil in an act of terror.
Sadly, on Oct. 22 that sense of safety, of peace was forever changed when a lone gunman approached and shot Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, in the back as he stood on honorary guard at the National War Museum in Ottawa in what the government is calling an act of terror. Cirillo, father to a kindergarten-aged son, died a short while later.
Cirillo’s death follows the Oct. 20 hit-and-run killing of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. The federal government later said the incident was a targeted attack linked to “terrorist ideologies.”
What happen was devastating to not just the families of these soldiers, whose grief I can’t even begin to comprehend, but to all of Canada. These attacks are completely in opposition to what it is to be Canadian. We are an inclusive country; we care about peace and the welfare of our citizens and those around the world. We are the true north strong and free.
These attacks were meant to change who we are as Canadians. They were meant to spread fear and incite hate.
Clearly, these attackers didn’t know the true nature of Canadian’s as the vast majority of us have responded not with fear or anger, but with a level-head that is not going to give into stereotypes and anger.
In Cold Lake, Alta., vandals targeted the Cold Lake Mosque on Oct. 23, spray-painting the words “Go Home” and “Canada” on the front of the mosque and breaking both the front windows. This targeted vandalism was quickly overshadowed by an outpouring of community support as by 1:30 p.m. the following day (Oct. 24) volunteers converged on the mosque and quickly cleaned up the hateful vandalism, instead replacing it with hand-written signs stating “Love Your Neighbour” and “You Are Home.”
In Hamilton, where Cirillo was originally from, filmmaker, Omar Albach, 18, organized a “social experiment” to see how Canadians would react to racist behaviour towards a Zakaria Ghanem, who was dressed in a traditional Muslim gown called a dishdasha or thobe.
In the video, which can be seen at youtube.com/watch?v=p9rFprD_Qf4, Devin Giamou approaches Ghanem who is waiting at a crowded bus stop. Giamou then begins to tell Ghanem he doesn’t feel safe with him on the bus because Ghanem “could be armed with explosives.”
What is amazing, and so very Canadian, is the reaction from the other people who quickly jump to the Ghanem’s aid.
“You can’t stereotype and judge people because of their clothes or their nationalities or anything else, you know what I mean?” one man said. “What happened there (in the attacks) was an incident of fanatics. Everybody cannot be punished like that. They did that in the States in 9/11, it was crazy.”
“It was awful and tragic,” said one woman, “but I don’t think that’s any reason to persecute someone just because of what they’re wearing.”
The “experiment” ends rather abruptly when Giamou is punched in the face, but it does show the nature of Canadians who stand up for each other and who do not tolerate racist behaviour.
It is reactions like those in Cold Lake and in the Hamilton video that gives me hope and makes me proud to be Canadian.
