In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, a directive went out across the country. For the first few weeks following the attacks, air, army and sea cadets and their officers were ordered not to wear their uniforms for fear they might be subject to an attack by some unknown terrorist on our soil.
At the time, it seemed like one of the most asinine, reactionary responses I have ever heard of.
And yet today, as I start to type this column 13 years later, that is exactly what has happened, twice in the last three days, on Canadian soil. A soldier was killed out of the blue by terrorist action.
If there was any question the attack in Quebec was indeed terrorism, we had that answered Oct. 22, when a shooter targeted a sentry at the National War Memorial. Apparently the shooter then made it into the Centre Block of Parliament. I'm typing this in the hours after it happened, so details are still sketchy. But that sentry has now died - the second uniformed soldier to do so.
Today, Canada changed. It's one thing to talk about wars on the other side of the planet. I am currently looking at a picture of the inside of caucus room filled with members of Parliament, and there is a stack of green chairs piled up barricading the door. Shots were fired right outside the door. The Sergeant-at-Arms personally took down the shooter just outside the Library of Parliament. (Give that man the Victoria Cross.)
These MPs will not easily forget. The prime minister, who was in the building, will not forget being hustled out of the nation's capital to the sound of gunfire.
This is our Pearl Harbour.
When was the last time Canadian soldiers, in uniform, have been killed on our native soil? Apparently an FLQ bomb in 1963 killed a sergeant at a recruiting office. Beyond that, did it even happen during the Second World War, excluding action off the coasts? Do we have to go as far back as the 1885 rebellion?
This attack happened under the Peace Tower! In our Parliament!
What more does it take for us to wake up to the fact there are people in this world who do not like us, and want us dead?
The question now is, what's next? Do we sit and take it? Do we mount an invasion somewhere? With what? Our six CF-18s en route to Iraq?
Online I've already seen apologists say things like, "And people get murdered in this country almost every day. It's tragic, it's upsetting, it's definitely something to try to stop. But it shouldn't threaten our national identity or our world-view."
Another one was "Dear Stephen Harper, Please pause. Remember who you are. Remember who we are.
"Before you respond ... before you use threats and terms we won't be proud of later ... before you theorize or strategize or sign us up for 'a war on terror' ...
"Please remember that this is what was bound to happen, because we are all a part of the interdependent web of all existence. What happens to one, happens to everyone. There is no 'someone else,' no 'somewhere else,' no 'other' that is not also us. There is no way to make choices for 'Canada' in isolation from the rest of the world.
"Let's use this to help us remember that we are all connected and we must all work together ... on a world wide scale ... to create a common experience of peace, safety, health and love. Let's use this to remind us that we all share one planet, one food chain, one world community, one future. Please pause ... reconsider ... and start from the larger truth."
Who are these apologists apologizing for? Who do they want to hug? How deeply can they bury their head in the sand? If the Gestapo was loading them onto trains, would they just go along with it?
In the hours after the Parliament Hill attack, the military was again ordered not to wear their uniforms in public. We will not prevail if we go into hiding. It's horrible that two soldiers have been killed, but if you ask anyone in uniform, they will likely tell you, they are in uniform so that everyone else does not need to live in fear.
It might be time to start issuing side arms, however.
Our innocence, in many ways, has been lost. In 1992, as a Grade 11 student, I was in Ottawa for a conference a few blocks away from the Hill. We went for a walk, and walked around the Centre Block. We walked in, sat in the gallery for 10 minutes and walked out. Easy peasy. I doubt my kids will ever have that ease of access again.
- Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected].
