Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Motion No. 251 introduced by my hon. colleague from Dauphin—Swan River. This motion was first introduced by my hon. colleague in October 1997 and is in furtherance of efforts which he made as mayor of Dauphin, Manitoba prior to his election to parliament.
The actions of my hon. colleague illustrate the best elements of election to the House, whereby this House becomes a means to address concerns that caused a member to decide to stand for election.
By this motion my hon. colleague seeks to have the House recognize by way of a memorial the valour and contributions to our history of Lieutenant Colonel William Barker. Lieutenant Colonel Barker was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour in World War I. It is regrettable this motion is non-votable since a vote would demonstrate to Canadians how parliamentarians view memorials to personal sacrifice and contributions to the freedom of Canada and the world.
On the other hand we have the hon. member for Dauphin—Swan River to thank for making the effort to raise this issue in the House, such that our views of Lieutenant-Colonel Barker's accomplishments may be part of the permanent Hansard record and thus part of the permanent historical record of Canada.
Actions such as those of the hon. member for Dauphin—Swan River become extremely important as a means to counter tendencies to forget valorous actions, or to diminish such accomplishments on the basis that they are associated with violence and war.
Memorials are an important means by which we learn about and remember our history. Most Canadians are connected to these famous people, these heroes, in one way or another.
In addition to Will Barker, I personally think of a relative, Harry Amy of Saskatchewan, and aboriginal Tommy Prince of my riding in Manitoba.
Will Barker was a farm boy born in the Dauphin Valley of Manitoba in 1894. As a boy, Will became a crack shot and helped to put food on the table with his skill. His grandfather put money down on his shooting ability in competitions at local community events. Will never let him down.
In 1915 not far into World War I, Barker enlisted with the First Canadian Mounted Rifles. His ability with a gun soon caught the attention of his superiors and he was given air reconnaissance duty as an observer in the second seat of the plane manning the cameras and guns. But Barker wanted to fly the plane.
On November 8, 1916 he was reassigned to the Royal Flying Corps and on January 12, 1917 began flight training. After two dual trips, one of 50 minutes and another of five minutes, Barker soloed and received his flying certificate on January 18. On February 14 Barker was graded a flying officer.
William Barker completed both ground and flight training in three weeks at Oxford University. The normal time for ground training alone was six weeks. Although Barker was recognized for his heroism in the air for shooting down some 50 enemy planes and balloons, he was known as a leader who would never leave behind any member of his squadron. No flyer died under his command.
When Wayne Ralph, author of Barker VC , asked another of Canada's air aces, Ken Guthrie, whether he liked Barker, he replied “Like Barker? I liked him, more than liked him, I practically adored him”. The closing paragraphs of Wayne Ralph's Barker VC go as follows:
Unlike Britain and the United States, Canada did not build a `Tomb of the Unknown Soldier' after the Great War. It took us 19 years to put up a national war memorial. We do not have a national military cemetery, our 100,000 war dead lie buried in foreign soil. If it is true, as one Canadian philosopher has noted, that Canadians seem to like their heroes smaller than life, then Barker is sadly irrelevant.
Outside of Canada, however, he is still remembered. Almost all the magazine articles and narratives about Barker in the past 20 years have been written by British or American writers who still like their heroes larger than life, and don't mind them having a darker, more complicated side.
Canadian historians and writers quickly erased everything that made Barker a human being, especially his physical and psychological pain. We were left this cartoon image of a warrior—his life before and after October 27, 1918 (the day he won the Victoria Cross) only a footnote. His internment in the private Smith family crypt, without even a bronze plaque to mark his place, was the final footnote.
Our most decorated war hero gradually became our unknown soldier, except, most importantly, in the hearts of the men and women who had loved him.
I take great pleasure in speaking today in memory of Lieutenant-Colonel William Barker. I certainly would like to support the motion of my colleague.