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Arlington North?
Nice idea, but one big question - how do you staff this if this is to happen?
Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.
Harper government hasn't ruled out a guard of honour at war memorial
Allan Woods, CanWest News Service, 3 Nov 06
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=fc9005e2-8e8b-4ca4-89f3-1f20c88747f9&k=80923
A majority of Canadians support the idea of posting a full-time guard of honour around the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, according to an internal poll conducted for the Harper government and obtained by CanWest News Service.
Six-in-10 Canadians polled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's top bureaucratic advisers said they supported the idea of a round-the-clock sentry at the site and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has not ruled out moving ahead on the plan, according to a spokesman.
The idea of a permanent military presence around the monument that honours those who died fighting with the Canadian Forces was first raised this summer after a young man was photographed on Canada Day urinating on the granite structure.
The public square occupies a prominent location in the capital, just across the street from the Parliament buildings.
An Ottawa-area Liberal MP, David McGuinty, initially made the suggestion after seeing the national outrage that had developed.
He also put the suggestion to Harper directly in a letter days after the incident.
In August, Harper's top policy advisers in the Privy Council Office asked 1,647 Canadians if they would support the idea of placing a full-time guard of honour around the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown soldier.
Sixty-one-per cent responded favourably to the idea, including one-quarter of respondents who "strongly support" the idea, according to the poll results. One-in-three Canadians 35.4 per cent said they were opposed to the idea.
The poll, completed by Decima Research, was considered accurate to within 2.4-percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Days after the young man's photograph was published on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen and later picked up by newspapers across the country, leading to a national outcry Harper himself called into an Ottawa radio station and denounced the "thoughtless" actions.
"Obviously, it's a terrible thing to do," Harper said. "Certainly my impression is it doesn't represent in any way the views of any segment of Canadian society."
Authorities said at the time they would consider hiring private security guards to police the area, but nothing has come of it.
McGuinty said in an interview Thursday that in addition to his guard-of-honour proposal, he suggested Harper introduce a new criminal code offence to deal with such desecrations.
He was later told that Veteran's Affairs Minister Greg Thompson had been asked to look into the matter, but had not heard anything yet about the government's position.
Etienne Allard, a defence ministry spokesman, explained Thursday the government has already committed $5.5 million over three years for restoration and upkeep of Canada's 6,000 cenotaphs and war monuments and that the idea of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is that it should be accessible to all visitors.
"We poll on many issues," Allard said in an e-mail. "But unlike the previous government, we do not govern by them."
(Poster's Note: This suggests the spokesperson is a Minister's spokesperson, not a "ministry", or bureaucrat, spokesperson.)
However, he added: "no decision has been taken yet" on whether or not to place a guard of honour at the war memorial.
A frustrated McGuinty said he does not understand why no action has been taken yet on an incident that occurred in July.
"This is something that could have been solved within a week," he said, adding he found it surprising that government felt it had to conduct an opinion poll for "something that feels like common sense."
"It might be that instead of actually working transparently, maybe they're trying to spring something in advance of Remembrance Day," McGuinty said.
Provincially, the idea of a year-round guard of honour around the military monument achieved greatest support in Atlantic Canada, where military traditions and membership is disproportionately high.
Only in Quebec, which is widely considered the province most wary of militarism, were more people opposed to the idea of posting an guard of honour at the public square.
Fifty-five percent of Quebeckers opposed the idea, compared to 43 per cent who said they were supportive.
The 22-metre-high National War Memorial was unveiled in 1939 by King George VI and dedicated to Canadians who served in the First World War.
It was later re-dedicated to all Canadians who have served in 20th-century wars, including the Second World War and the Korean War.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was constructed in 2000 when the remains of a Canadian killed in the First World War in France were returned to Canada and buried in the special tomb in front of the war memorial.
Nice idea, but one big question - how do you staff this if this is to happen?
Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.
Harper government hasn't ruled out a guard of honour at war memorial
Allan Woods, CanWest News Service, 3 Nov 06
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=fc9005e2-8e8b-4ca4-89f3-1f20c88747f9&k=80923
A majority of Canadians support the idea of posting a full-time guard of honour around the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, according to an internal poll conducted for the Harper government and obtained by CanWest News Service.
Six-in-10 Canadians polled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's top bureaucratic advisers said they supported the idea of a round-the-clock sentry at the site and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has not ruled out moving ahead on the plan, according to a spokesman.
The idea of a permanent military presence around the monument that honours those who died fighting with the Canadian Forces was first raised this summer after a young man was photographed on Canada Day urinating on the granite structure.
The public square occupies a prominent location in the capital, just across the street from the Parliament buildings.
An Ottawa-area Liberal MP, David McGuinty, initially made the suggestion after seeing the national outrage that had developed.
He also put the suggestion to Harper directly in a letter days after the incident.
In August, Harper's top policy advisers in the Privy Council Office asked 1,647 Canadians if they would support the idea of placing a full-time guard of honour around the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown soldier.
Sixty-one-per cent responded favourably to the idea, including one-quarter of respondents who "strongly support" the idea, according to the poll results. One-in-three Canadians 35.4 per cent said they were opposed to the idea.
The poll, completed by Decima Research, was considered accurate to within 2.4-percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Days after the young man's photograph was published on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen and later picked up by newspapers across the country, leading to a national outcry Harper himself called into an Ottawa radio station and denounced the "thoughtless" actions.
"Obviously, it's a terrible thing to do," Harper said. "Certainly my impression is it doesn't represent in any way the views of any segment of Canadian society."
Authorities said at the time they would consider hiring private security guards to police the area, but nothing has come of it.
McGuinty said in an interview Thursday that in addition to his guard-of-honour proposal, he suggested Harper introduce a new criminal code offence to deal with such desecrations.
He was later told that Veteran's Affairs Minister Greg Thompson had been asked to look into the matter, but had not heard anything yet about the government's position.
Etienne Allard, a defence ministry spokesman, explained Thursday the government has already committed $5.5 million over three years for restoration and upkeep of Canada's 6,000 cenotaphs and war monuments and that the idea of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is that it should be accessible to all visitors.
"We poll on many issues," Allard said in an e-mail. "But unlike the previous government, we do not govern by them."
(Poster's Note: This suggests the spokesperson is a Minister's spokesperson, not a "ministry", or bureaucrat, spokesperson.)
However, he added: "no decision has been taken yet" on whether or not to place a guard of honour at the war memorial.
A frustrated McGuinty said he does not understand why no action has been taken yet on an incident that occurred in July.
"This is something that could have been solved within a week," he said, adding he found it surprising that government felt it had to conduct an opinion poll for "something that feels like common sense."
"It might be that instead of actually working transparently, maybe they're trying to spring something in advance of Remembrance Day," McGuinty said.
Provincially, the idea of a year-round guard of honour around the military monument achieved greatest support in Atlantic Canada, where military traditions and membership is disproportionately high.
Only in Quebec, which is widely considered the province most wary of militarism, were more people opposed to the idea of posting an guard of honour at the public square.
Fifty-five percent of Quebeckers opposed the idea, compared to 43 per cent who said they were supportive.
The 22-metre-high National War Memorial was unveiled in 1939 by King George VI and dedicated to Canadians who served in the First World War.
It was later re-dedicated to all Canadians who have served in 20th-century wars, including the Second World War and the Korean War.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was constructed in 2000 when the remains of a Canadian killed in the First World War in France were returned to Canada and buried in the special tomb in front of the war memorial.