Guthrie School sits on the grounds of Lancaster Park, more or less where Edmonton intersects with Sturgeon County. Named for Canadian Air Vice-Marshal Kenneth M. Guthrie, the K–9 school opened in 1952. Once, this 2,500-hectare site was home to a major air base, RCAF Station Namao, which played a crucial strategic role throughout the Cold War. But today this is CFB Edmonton, one of Canada’s largest and most important military bases, home to the 3rd Canadian Division, the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and about one-third of the Canadian Army’s fighting power.
Guthrie is part of the Sturgeon Public School Division. But while some of its students live in Edmonton or the county, many live on the base itself. They are the children of men and women who dedicate their lives to serving and defending our country.
Which is why Remembrance Day ceremonies at Guthrie School hit a little differently.
I’ve attended Remembrance Day memorials as a student and as a parent, as a journalist and as a senator. Since I joined the Senate, eight years ago, I’ve taken part in ceremonies at cenotaphs and Legion halls, schools, mosques and cemeteries. I’ve even laid a wreath at a huge event inside the rink at West Edmonton Mall. (The venue had the benefit of being warm and dry, but all the neon signs somewhat diminished the gravitas of the moment.) But when Guthrie School invites me, I say yes. Remembrance Day in that gym reflects the best of Canada.
There’s always a heartfelt land acknowledgment. Both official languages are represented. And while the students are the centre of the ceremonies, lots of serving members and veterans are on hand. At Guthrie, Remembrance Day isn’t just about honouring those who fought and died at Vimy or Normandy or Hong Kong or Kapyong. It isn’t about abstract history, something in a textbook. It’s about these kids, knowing, on some level, that their own parents could be the next ones asked to sacrifice.
When I sit there, listening to the recitation of “In Flanders Fields,” I feel humbled and slightly ashamed as I reflect on the unique burden these students are already being asked to shoulder. There’s been a lot of talk, these last few months, about Canadian sovereignty and identity, about what it means to be a patriot and what it means to be a traitor. There’s been a lot of empty palaver, from politicos and pundits and keyboard warriors who don’t understand what the kids of Guthrie School already understand. That patriotism comes with a human cost. Those who’ve spent the last year pushing the separatist cause rarely acknowledge Alberta’s central role in Canada’s national defence. Alberta, after all, is home not just to CFB Edmonton but also the air base at Cold Lake and the vital national training operations at CFB Suffield and CFB Wainwright. Yet through all the debate and bluster, there has been precious little discussion of how an independent Alberta would defend itself, nor of how the rest of Canada’s military defence capabilities might be compromised by having to relocate essential facilities and personnel to other provinces. We haven’t talked nearly enough about how separation might undermine our national security.
Nor have I seen any calculation of the economic cost to the province of losing these four bases and Alberta’s other defence-related industries—especially at a moment when the Carney government is pouring money into defence spending in an effort to live up to our NATO commitments and prepare Canada for whatever comes next.
But beyond those brute practicalities, I think of all the generations of Albertans who’ve risked their lives and their physical and mental health to serve and protect Canada, to bring peace and order to the world. I think of all the young servicemen and women from across Canada who’ve been based in Alberta and become part of the fabric of this province.
US politicians have lately gleefully taken potshots at Canada’s military—not just denigrating our history on the battlefield, but making fun of our current defence capacity. This past year of separatist nonsense and ugly referendum questions further insult the legacy of all those who’ve worn the uniform, and the honour and bravery of those who serve today. CFB Edmonton, after all, is home to personnel from every part of Canada. Together they pledge to protect us all. They pledge to defend the unlikely ideal of Canada, a country held together by mutual respect, decency, fairness and the courage of compromise. What we ask of them and their families is extraordinary. They deserve our respect. They deserve better than political games.
I hope this November 11 comes as a wake-up call. A call to unity. A call to remember what matters. The defence of Canada is a serious business, especially now, when old alliances are fracturing and new enemies are testing our resolve. It’s time for us to put away childish things. Time for us to take up the torch and hold it high. Time to ensure the future of a country that every kid at Guthrie School will be proud to call home.
Paula Simons is an independent Alberta senator and the host of her own political podcast, Alberta Unbound.
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