NO-SEE

No part of the narrative forming around this story even makes sense. That CBC is pushing this silly idea is, well, no surprise. With the aid of supporters from the three major parties, they tell us all of parliament celebrating a WWII veteran as a hero — despite the man fighting on the wrong side — was a simple error. They go further, asserting there was only one person alone responsible and that:

A) He (a 60-something-year-old with a poli-sci background) did not know that it was the Axis forces who were fighting the Russians and

B) He knew nothing about the man he brought before parliament, especially that man's wartime enrolment

No. Stop.

What was stated on the day was that parliament had before them a "WWII veteran" who "fought against the Russians." If the argument is that not one member of parliament knows what nations composed the Allied forces in WWII, or even just the three big Allied armies, they've all got to go. You simply cannot claim that among the 500 people in attendance not one of them either had a parent or grandparents who fought in the war (or, otherwise, themselves graduated from high school or watched a film or TV show or played a video game or read a book or the newspaper just one time...) and are unaware of who the Russians were fighting against. I don't buy it. Not for a minute. I mean, despite being decades younger than many of these people, I've been unable to avoid sustained bombardment by all things WWII-related for my whole life. Could anyone born in the English-speaking world in the 20th century have had a different experience? (I would be surprised, shocked, to learn that there is another brief period of human history for which there is more movies and documentaries and television series and books. Shocked.)

More than that, it's just inconceivable someone would be brought before all of parliament to be praised, and in front of their very special guest no less, for his efforts in the war without someone at least confirming he was, in fact, a war veteran. And it would be impossible to do so without learning where they were stationed and what role they played. (What unit of which army? What were your years of service? These are not offensive questions to direct toward a veteran. And one being brought before the world to be celebrated as a hero for their service should not be shy about these specifics...) In this case, the fellow in question was with the SS 14th Waffen Division. Learning this, you would only need to do the most minimal search to learn that, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, yes, in fact 1,882 members of the 14th Waffen Division immigrated to Canada after the war. And from there it would also be inconceivable that someone would fail to inquire whether the man (labelled a hero) spent any time in Poland or the village of Pidkamin. NONE of that happened?! And nothing of the sort also took place before bestowing upon his colleague one of our highest honours of merit?

Can you imagine if the same had unfolded but those in office and attendance were not almost all over 50 but largely Millennials or GenZ. For six weeks straight we'd only be hearing about how out-of-touch and ignorant the population has become; how they've now ruined (like breakfast cereal, department stores, and romance) the good name Canada earned by the tireless good works of all previous generations. Or, even better, imagine if the Conservatives were in power. We'd have whole newspapers and media outlets running ongoing series illuminating all the ways in which we were blind to the ushering in of neo-fascism and how all correct-thinking citizens of good-will should already be forming insurgency groups to being burning the place to the ground. And if it was the NDP? "Look how we've cozied up to extremism under Jagmeet!" Instead, our media appear to be in agreement that there's nothing to see here, all appropriate accounting has been done and sufficient amends made, and that all of us are already past this non-issue.

Amazing. Just amazing.