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Letters to the Editor

November 19, 2001

Remembering What?

By Stephanie Wilson

On Remembrance Day
(November 11), | went to the
ceremonies at the Cenotaph
with the intentions of honour-
ing those who died in the
name of Canada and remem-
bering the atrocities of war.
The very fact that people can
say “Lest We Forget” and
quote “If ye break faith with
us who die/We shall not
sleep/Though poppies grow

A Visit From
shirley Bond

An open letter to Shirley
Bond and all those interest-
ed:

Il, aS a reporter for our stu-
dent newspaper,
approached you on
November 16 after your pre-
sentation at the Canfor
Theatre with the intention of
obtaining a quote for an arti-
cle | was planning to write.
The first time | approached
you, you gave me a brief
answer, then said you were
busy and turned away. | then
left, and returned a few min-
utes later with another mem-
ber of the press. When |
came back, you were still
there. | came up to you,
again introducing myself as

in Flander’s Fields,” then
declare their support for the
current war in Afghanistan,
sickens me. Have we totally
lost touch with reality and the
real effects of war? Have we
not learned anything about
war in the past 75 years?
Maybe we should actually
start to listen to the veterans
who speak about the horrors
of the war and its lasting
effects. But | digress.

a member of the press, and
asked you to explain your
answers. Again, you said
you were busy and had to
leave. You then proceeded
to turn around and talk to a
group of students behind
me. You told me to phone
you and your assistant hand-
ed me a business card.

| realize that you are a busy
person, but all | asked for
was thirty seconds of your
time so | could have a quote
to write an article about uni-
versity attendance. | have no
problem phoning you in
Victoria. However, | do not
appreciate being pushed
away and told you do not
have time to answer me, and
then watch you talk individu-

The real slap in the face
came during the minute of
silence. The Canadian flag
was lowered, the British
Columbian flag was lowered,
the Union Jack was lowered,
the United Nations flag was
lowered... But the American
flag was left standing. First of
all, one country’s flag cannot
be higher than any other
country’s out of respect.
Secondly, did the soldiers die

ally to people behind me.
When you say you have no
time to talk, it sounds as if
you have no time to talk to
anyone. If you did not’ want
to answer the question, all
you had to do was say, ‘No
comment.’

| am not implying that |
deserve your time more than
anyone else just because |
came to you as a member of
the press. | am, however,
disappointed in the way you
mislead me. As the Minister
of Advanced Education, |
somehow expected more.

Thank you,
Stephanie Wilson.

for America? No. They died
for CANADA. That is blatent
disrespect for those who
gave up everything they
owned, including their lives in
too many cases, and fought
for their country - Canada. |
realize that raising the

American flag is most likely
tied to the September 11
attacks, but Remembrance
Day is not meant to remem-
ber the tragedy. It

is to

remember the world wars
and those who gave their
lives and fought for Canada. |
am not implying that the
deaths of those in the attacks
are not worthy of remem-
brance, | am saying that we
should honour
Remembrance Day for what
it is intended to honour. The
American flag should have
nothing to do with that.

Minister of Advanced Education, Shirley Bond, spoke to the students
of Tracy Sommerville’s Political Science 100 class on Friday
November 16th. A full report will appear in our next issue.

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