So there I am at the annual Battle of the Atlantic commemoration ceremony yesterday as is my habit as a naval reserve officer. Time comes for the laying of the wreaths. Now by protocol the governments of Canada, Alberta and the City of Calgary lay wreaths, just like on Remembrance Day. However, these levels of governments couldn't be bothered to send representatives. So out of eight MP's, 21 MLA's and 15 aldermen, not ONE could find a couple of hours on a Sunday to come and represent any level of our government at a ceremony commemorating the sacrifice of Canadian naval and merchant navy personnel. Given Calgary's penchant for electing Conservatives, you'd think that a party so gung-ho about "supporting the troops" could show up for an annual veterans' event. Of course the truly embarrassing part of this was the fact that after our governments' wreaths comes the wreaths of foreign powers. Only one was there, the United States, but the government of the US sent it's counsel-general, a senior officer and two enlisted personnel. That's right, a single foreign power sent more representatives to honour our dead than our own governments did. Makes you wonder why we bother...
