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For queen and country Why did this happen? Why did Canada take part in such an ugly conflict using the most despicable methods

of war, save perhaps the extermination camps of the Nazis?

It was true that Canada, at the time, was a mere dominion of Britain, and therefore we went to war when they did. But notions of being dragged into depravity by our colonial masters are insufficient. In truth, Canada embraced the chance to go to war on Britain’s side with great enthusiasm. Many of us were British at the time, or at least of British descent. In English Canada at least, there was no doubt that we should be involved.

And why not? This should have been an easy war for the powerful British, and indeed, the conventional war lasted but a year, until the Boer nations, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, were conquered. However, the Boers in the annexed land refused to give up.

Their outmanned and under-equipped combat- ants began fighting a guerilla-style war that the British were unable to counter effectively.

To turn the tide, the Imperial forces began using “scorched earth” tactics against Boer civil- ians who were aiding the guerillas with supplies and shelter. Livestock was confiscated. Crops

were burned and the fields were salted. And eventually, the British decided that that the best way to keep the non-combatants from providing aid would be to keep them under guard in overcrowded,

But it seems ironic that the Harper Government is spend- ing millions this year lionizing the War of 1812, a war ‘Canada’ wasnt even alive for. Yet at the same time, Canadians remain woefully uneducated about the war that was the most shameful in our history.

filthy disease-infested concentration camps. Most of the pris- oners were women, children, and the elderly. Separated by race, it is believed that roughly 28,000 whites died, and 16,000 blacks died. Selective memory Outside of history majors, few Canadians today know anything about the Second Boer War. It concluded 110 years ago, and has been out of our living memory for decades. Even books in our schools barely mention the issue. When I was taking Grade 12 history in high school, it was given a passing mention as some war that preceded World War I. And of course, it’s easy to see why no Canadian would even want to remember it. It was a war where we and our allies were undoubtedly the bad guys. Canada was noth-

ing more than a colonial henchman out to help

Britain do her dirty work,

subjugating yet another nation for the “Empire On Which the Sun Never Sets,” using the most barbarous methods imaginable to set up

a country that would later become apartheid South Africa. Not exactly a feat to be proud of.

But it seems ironic that the Harper Government is spending millions this year lion- izing the War of 1812, a war “Canada” wasn’t even alive for. Yet at the same time, Canadians remain woefully unedu- cated about the war that was the most shameful in our history. It seems as though all the effort the Conservatives have put into remembering one old war is matched only by our collec- tive effort as a people to forget another.

One thing I truly feel that Stephen Harper has done right as Prime Minister has been apolo- gizing to the Aboriginal peoples of this country for the hundreds of years of oppression they were forced to endure under the yoke

We owe it to the victims of South Africa to remember. We also owe it to our veterans and the men and women serving in our armed forces today to remember. We owe it to them because we cannot truly appreciate the gallantry, dignity, and professionalism that they have served with until we acknowledge that it is not simply a natural outcome of being Canadian. Like any other nation, we are as capable of monstrosity as we are capable of heroism in the face of combat.

of colonialism. It didn’t change much, but it was an admission that we were in the wrong, and

I feel it should count for something. Perhaps we owe the people of South Africa the same courtesy. It may have happened

over 110 years ago, but it would be a start.

The real value of service Vimy Ridge. Normandy. Peacekeeping in Yugoslavia. This is what comes to mind when we think of Canada’s military. And obviously, these were gallant suc- cesses against despicable enemies—the aggressive German Empire, the Nazis, and the genocidaires of Southern Europe. But we have to be honest with ourselves. To simply pre- tend that our nation has never done anything wrong in wartime is childish escapism.

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