OT: State funeral for las WW I Veteran

["Steve Makohin" <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello all,

Some time around Remembrance Day, I posted a message about a petition to 
have a state funeral for the last WW I veteran. As I did more research, I 
discovered this is a Canadian movement. As reported by The Globe and Mail 
this weekend (see news story below) a motion to offer a State Funeral to the 
family of the last veteran of the First World War will be considered by 
Parliament on Tuesday, November 21. It looks like it will have full 
government support, and will pass.

For non-Canadians:
  NDP = "New Democratic Party", Canada's socialist political party
  Bloc Quibicois  = Political party in Quebec, best known for their 
separatist movement
  Conservatives  = Political party, as name implies
  Liberal = Political party, as name implies
  House of Commons = Asylum where Canadian citizen keep their loonies 
rounded up.
  Honour = British/Canadian spelling on honor

- -Steve Makohin
 '01 R1100S/ABS
 Oakville, Ontario, Canada




NDP seeks consent for state funeral
Last WW1 vet should be honoured
BY GLORIA GALLOWAY

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18


OTTAWA -- The New Democratic Party will ask Monday for all federal parties 
to agree to offer a state funeral to the last Canadian veteran of the First 
World War.

Just three of those men still are still alive, and all of them are 105 or 
106 years old.

Their dwindling numbers and advancing years have created a surge of support 
for a Dominion Institute proposal to follow the example of Australia, which 
held a state funeral for the final survivor of the Battle of Gallipoli. By 
yesterday afternoon, more than 85,000 people had signed a petition on the 
institute's website asking that the Canadian government offer the family of 
the last veteran a similar honour.

"We are going to ask the other party leaders on Monday for unanimous consent 
to consider a motion to have a state funeral when the last of the World War 
I veterans passes away," NDP Leader Jack Layton said yesterday.

The war was "immensely significant" in Canadian history, Mr. Layton said, 
and a state funeral would provide "an opportunity for us to remember an 
entire generation that fought for our country in its early years and made 
enormous sacrifices."

Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute, said there 
is some urgency to say publicly that this is what Canada as a nation wants 
to do. The NDP motion would "get the ball rolling," he said.

"If we want to make this into a national, large-scale commemoration, that's 
going to take time and it's going to take resources," Mr. Griffiths said. 
"It's not something that any government can turn around in a matter of a few 
weeks."

But Mr. Layton will need the support of all four federal parties for the 
matter to be dealt with quickly. Without unanimous consent of all House 
leaders, it will go to the end of the queue of motions to be put to the 
House of Commons.

Obtaining that consent could prove problematic.

Rodger Cuzner, the Liberal critic for veterans affairs, said he believes a 
state funeral would be a noble gesture and he will urge his party to support 
the NDP proposal.

"Historians are unanimous in pointing to [the 1917 battle of] Vimy Ridge as 
the single military battle that allowed Canada to emerge as a true nation," 
Mr. Cuzner said. It's important, he said, to do what "we can do to bring us 
back and remind us of that."

The Bloc Quibicois has also said it will support the motion.

But the Conservatives may not.

A spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson said yesterday his 
department is consulting with veterans groups and other federal departments, 
and until the Conservatives actually see the NDP motion, they can't say 
whether they will back it.

The Canadian Legion, meanwhile, points out that Jack Babcock, one of the 
three surviving Canadian veterans, has lived in the United States since 1924 
and would not be entitled to a state funeral in Canada, something Mr. 
Babcock says he understands.

"The Legion has asked the government for some time now to host a significant 
event on the passing of the last World Ward I vet," said Bob Butt, the 
Legion's director of communications. A state funeral would be an option for 
the other two, but it would have to be some other type of recognition if Mr. 
Babcock is the last survivor, he said.

A poll of 1,013 Canadians conducted last month for the Dominion Institute 
found that three out of four respondents agree with the proposal for a state 
funeral for the last First World War veteran. While support varied across 
the country, in no region was it below 69 per cent.

Mr. Layton said he has been persuaded by the arguments for the ceremony and 
he says he has seen the groundswell of support for the idea.

"I think the significance of that particular passing is one that really 
represents something fundamental in our history and a great gift that was 
given to all of us who never had to experience the horrors that they had to 
experience in those trenches and in those famous battles," Mr. Layton said.

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End of oilheads-digest V3 #172
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