Honour, Love and Glory

Creative Commons, with thanks to cwasteson

Our community would not be possible without our veterans. 

This much was clear as we watched West Vancouver's veterans march past the Cenotaph this morning:  We hold our democracy as a direct result of the generations of Canadians from every walk of life who gave their lives to make us free. 

In remembering all veterans, and everyone who has sacrificed to build our country, we must make ourselves mindful of our duty never to break faith with them.  Honouring their lives in this way - faithfully - will transform our lives and allow our generations to be counted with theirs, joining us together in the work of building a Canada that is free, democratic and just.

On the largest scale, this means making sure we cultivate a political culture that calls out the best in us, and in those whom we elect to represent us.  The blood shed by our veterans to defend our vocation as a nation to democracy must be answered by our constant vigilance and our good faith.  Citizen to citizen, our work must be to discover and secure the common good, and this task becomes more indispensable as the challenges facing our community increase.

On the human scale, we can get a sense of the moral urgency of the challenges we're facing by looking at the ways veterans have been cared for of the Lookout Emergency Aid Society.  Veterans were among the first to make use of the beds afforded by Lookout when it opened its doors in 1971 in Gastown.  Veterans, and indeed increasing numbers of seniors in their 70s, 80s and 90s, are continuing to be served by Lookout's North Shore Shelter.  The risk they face is considerable, as the North Shore continues to struggle with a housing crisis.

But this is not a risk they need bare in isolation.  What we find consistently in the Dundarave Festival is that the same largeness of spirit that allowed veterans to fight for us remains very much alive in all of us.  From West Vancouver's Mayor and Council to families, community groups and businesses of every stripe, we are answering their sacrifice with a powerful labour of love to make sure that no veteran, no senior, or anyone else is left out in the cold. 

If you're in the first flight of people who have claimed a tree for this season's Dundarave Festival, stand tall today.  Thank you for sharing in the beautiful work of keeping our community true and strong, free and loving.  If you've not yet claimed your tree, now's the time to do it.  There's glory enough for all, but we are now down to our final dozen trees.  Click here to claim yours today: