Mr. Speaker, I rise to join with the minister and other hon. members in paying tribute to those brave Canadians who lost their lives or suffered injury in the wars of the 20th century. We also pay tribute to those who came home, our veterans and those who serve in our armed forces today.
The veterans that I know face each passing Remembrance Day with a combination of pride and sadness. The pride of course comes from knowing that they participated in the preservation of freedom and democracy, not only for themselves but for other generations of Canadians and other people around the world. Their sadness arises from the lurking fear that no one really remembers or really cares.
I am reminded of a sad, old World War I song by the Australian Eric Bogle, sung so well by Canada's John McDermid, which puts the following words into the mouth of a crippled vet. He said:
And so now every April I sit on my porch And I watch the parade pass before me; And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, Reviving old dreams and past glories.
But the old men march slowly, Their bones stiff and sore, Tired old men from a tired old war, And the young people ask, What are they marching for? And I ask myself the same question.
To those who feel this sadness on Remembrance Day, I want to say not as a member of Parliament or as the Leader of the Opposition but as the father of five children, that we do remember what you are marching for and that we are eternally grateful.
Two years ago my wife and I took our oldest son to the airport from which he was to leave for a year of travel and study in Asia and the south Pacific. It was a time of mixed emotions for us, sadness that he was leaving home for an extended time for the first time, but excitement that he was now through high school and off to see the world before going on with his studies.
I could not help thinking at that time how different our situation was and how infinitely preferable it was to that of parents who took their young people to the bus station or train station 80 years ago or 60 years ago at the outset of the first and second world wars and the terrible emotions they must have felt as they sent their young people not off to study, travel and work abroad in peace, but to fight in a war from which they might never return.
It is because those parents and those young people were prepared to make those sacrifices that we have not had to make them. It is because they suffered those terrible emotions that we do not have to suffer the same.
When I see the veterans marching past the cenotaph, even if their step is slower now and the bones may be stiff and sore, that is the answer we should give to those who ask, what are they marching for. They marched long ago and they march today for you and for me. And for that we owe them our profound and everlasting gratitude.