Handpicked History - The Peel School Board Forgets Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day Should Celebrate The Heroic Men Who Made The Ultimate Sacrifice

This is a guest post by James Pew (@NotWokeThinker), author of The Woke West: The Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, Radical Activism And Forbidden Knowledge Dividing The West...And What You Can Do About It!” - published serially to The Turn Substack.

During the week of Remembrance Day, the Peel District School Board (PDSB) sent a newsletter to parents with an expected term in the subject line: Remembrance Day”. What was unexpected is that the only related subject matter in the email body recognized November 8th, Indigenous Veterans Day. The traditional day of remembrance, November 11th (a school day), was not mentioned.

Here is the paragraph,

Remembering Indigenous Veterans

Nov. 8 is Indigenous Veterans Day. On this day, we remember and recognize the service and sacrifices First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples have made in Canadian military efforts. Many were also forced to overcome challenges, including adapting to cultural differences, learning a new language and travelling great distances to enlist. On this day we honour and show respect and gratitude to all Indigenous veterans.

The recognition of Indigenous Veterans Day is welcomed, but the exclusion of the the November 11th day of Remembrance is a shameless act of omission for the purpose of shaping a progressive narrative.

Was it the Indigenous contribution in WWII that was the decisive factor for victory? How strategically significant has the Indigenous contribution been in any Canadian conflict, including contemporary ones like Afghanistan? I question how my two European descendant grandfathers - who risked their lives for people who don’t even see their contributions as noteworthy - would perceive this.

The Remembrance Day omission reflects a clear pattern in Canadian politics: we must bend over backwards to avoid saying nice things about men (especially white men). When the occasion to celebrate European descendant men presents itself, it is played down, “problematized”, and repurposed to highlight the successes (or struggles) of another identity group. In Canada, this typically takes the form of substituting the Indigenous view or over-emphasizing women’s contributions in traditionally masculine domains like war. The goal is transparent: to avoid and dilute the contributions of white males. The strategy is perverse: to simply ignore the dominate facts of our history in favour of comparatively minor contributors.

Not only are white men, and others, erased of historical significance in the PDSB’s note to 155,000 student families, the Board further used the opportunity to take a subtle shot at white soldiers by stating that Indigenous veterans were “forced to overcome challenges.” Was it the circumstances of a world at war and the ensuing chaos that “forced” the Indigenous to overcome their challenges? I think it’s clear from the PDSB’s adoption of critical theories (ripe with ahistorical postcolonial yarns that always add up to the demonizing of Europeans), what is intended by “forced,” and who is being blamed for this “forcing.”

No opportunity to forward the narrative of Canada as “land of the evil colonial oppressor” shall go to waste in Peel. This is now expected within Ontario, school boards referring to European descendant children and their parents as “settler people” and “colonizers.”

During a 2009 panel discussion in Ottawa entitled: “Freedom of Speech: Restoring respect, truth and civility to the public square,” Canadian journalist Barbara Kay delivered a speech called “Anti-male Bias In The Media.” Here is an excerpt regarding Remembrance day:

“…the media treatment of Remembrance Day, the only day a year feminists tacitly lay off men, no longer celebrates the specifically manly trait of physical courage. If you’ll notice Remembrance day now is played out in gender-neutral programming, with combat-non-combat lines blurred to equalize the contributions of men and women.”

I am not suggesting that women and the Indigenous didn’t make a contribution. They did. And they are heroes for it. But, it is the male soldiers (of which some were Indigenous, but most of whom were white) who actually attended battles and were injured or killed. They should be held up on pedestals and celebrated forever for their bravery and service.

The Indigenous men who were on the battlefield with my grandfathers deserve all the respect and admiration universally awarded war veterans. But it is debatable if their “contributions to Canadian military efforts” merit their own day of Remembrance. What is not debatable is which “identity group” is most responsible for stopping the Nazis and creating the conditions for the peaceful life we enjoy in Canada today.

For the PDSB to address the school community with a recognition of November 8th, while omitting November 11th, is more than insulting - it’s historical revisionism. However, another email to parents from the PDSB was sent out on Remembrance Day. This time the subject line read - “Inclement Weather communication, information nights and other important information.” Is this not missing something kind of important?

To be fair, the first paragraph of the Nov. 11 email reads - “Today on Remembrance Day, students and staff across Peel schools and worksites gathered to pay tribute to all Canadian heroes of diverse identities who have bravely served and continue to serve our country. In accordance with Policy 62 – Flag Raising, flags at all Peel District School Board schools and worksites are flown at half-mast on Remembrance Day from sunrise until sunset as a sign of mourning.”

While I’m happy Remembrance got a mention, and It’s not that I object to the focus on “all Canadian heroes of diverse identities,” it’s the perpetual exclusion of proper credit given (or even mention of) men. Predictably, the only overt recognition of a male military contribution in the PDSB’s Nov. 11 email is “centered” on a minority identity - "Pte. Buckam Singh students and staff honour school’s namesake at gravesite at Remembrance Day event This past weekend, students and staff of Pte. Buckam Singh were invited to participate in a special ceremony to honour and remember their school’s namesake and Sikh Canadian war hero at his gravesite in Kitchener, Ontario.”

Why exactly does the PDSB feel the need to snub the men (especially the white men), at the one time of year they are universally recognized as the major contributors to a heroic cause and victory? Instead of thanking them, the PDSB seems more interested in erasing them.