Veterans License Plates

[bossi]

Hmmm ...
To avoid too much Quebec-bashing ...
Don't their license plates already say "Je me souviens", or am I thinking of the R22R cap badge ... ?
Thus, Quebec had a particularly appropriate regimental motto on their license plates since 1978
(i.e. before anybody else ...)

Sure - perhaps one could argue the provincial government "Je me souviens" was intended to have an entirely different, politically-charged meaning, but ... it's a broad concept, and arguably it could encompass veterans.

Now - how many other provinces have a regimental motto on THEIR license plates ... ?

 

[SHELLDRAKE!!]

It wasn't an attempt to bash Quebec but rather state that its nice that finally provincial governments are coming around to recognizing veterans more openly.Personally though I dont feel right about just anyone with a tour putting one up.

 

[bossi]

Personally though I dont feel right about just anyone with a tour putting one up.

1944 was 60 years ago - anybody who was 20 years old then is 80 years old now ...
Not too many of them will be driving as time marches on ...
Thus, it's up to younger "veterans" to hold the torch high ...

It's all about "remembrance", not false pride or vanity.
Lest we forget.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Some regimental mottos come directly from civvie mottos.

The motto of the City of Calgary is Onward.  The KOCR and Calgary Highlanders both adopted that as a regimental motto to reflect the community from which they recruit.  (The Highlanders in recent years converted the motto to Gaelic - Airaghardt).

I would suspect the Van Doos get their motto from the province of Quebec, and not the other way around.

 

[bossi]

Yup - I'd forgotten the KOCR and Calgary Highlanders have only been around since 1910, whereas Calgary was incorporated as a town in 1883 and then as a city in 1894.

Similarly, the R22R have only been around since 1914, and "Je me souviens" dates back to 1883.
http://www.gouv.qc.ca/Informations/Devise/Devise_en.html

So, is the Quebec license plate half empty or half full?  Ca m'est egal.

 

[Gunnar]

The motto of the province of quebec is an allusion to a poem, which states something along the lines of:

La devise aussitôt devient "Je me souviens...
Que je suis né dessous le lys de la France
Mais qu'aussi j'ai grandi sous la rose carmin"
Et nos jours ont fleuri au milieu des nuances.

The je me souviens is supposed to refer to "I know which side my bread is buttered on", but has been taken to be a different political statement of late.

 

[BradM]

I think this is fantastic. 

 

[bossi]

The motto of the province of quebec is an allusion to a poem... but has been taken to be a different political statement of late.

Interesting - the provincial website didn't mention the poem:

... André Duval read it as the response of a French-Canadian subject to the motto of the Marquess of Lorne, Governor General of Canada, which can be seen in the hall of the Parliament Building: "Ne obliviscaris" (Be careful not to forget). Conrad Laforte believed that Taché was inspired by the Canadien errant of Antoine Gérin-Lajoie: "Va, dis à mes amis/Que je me souviens d'eux" (Go tell my friends/That I remember them). These recent interpretations (1970) seem to have nothing in common with those that were current at the turn of the century among the contemporaries of the creator of the motto and that were more likely to have fuelled his thoughts, unfortunately never put down on paper.

Judge Jetté, in a speech in 1890, evoked the feeling of Canadians when the French flag reappeared on the river in 1855: "Oui, je me souviens, ce sont nos gens" (Yes, I remember, these are our people). According to Pierre-Georges Roy, this motto reflects "clearly the past, the present and the future of the only French province in the Canadian Confederation". The opinion of Ernest Gagnon also deserves consideration, for he was the secretary of the Department of Public Works at the time and knew Taché well. In an appendix to the Department's annual report, Gagnon wrote that the motto admirably summarized "la raison d'être du Canada de Champlain et de Maisonneuve comme province distincte dans la Confédération" (the raison d'être of the Canada of Champlain and Maisonneuve as a distinct province in the Confederation).

Gagnon's interpretation is probably very close to Taché's intentions. In designing the decoration of the Parliament Building, Taché wanted to render homage to the men and women who marked the history of Québec. There is probably no need to delve deeper into the matter. This entire building is a monument dedicated to the history of Québec and, through the motto, Taché sought simply to express in a few words what he planned to immortalize in stone, wood and bronze.

It works for me ... and ranks right up there with "Lest we forget" ...

 

[Bill Smy]

The motto of the province of quebec is an allusion to a poem, which states something along the lines of:

La devise aussitôt devient "Je me souviens...
Que je suis né dessous le lys de la France
Mais qu'aussi j'ai grandi sous la rose carmin"
Et nos jours ont fleuri au milieu des nuances.

Gunnar is correct, although I can't vouch for the accuracy of the wording. I will eventually come up with it and the poet's name. This was a biit of history taught at Hamilton Teachers' College in the late 1950s.

 

[Bill Smy]

The poem was written by Eugene Etienne Tache. Here is a letter written by his granddaughter with both the French and English versions which is taken from this website:-

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://agora.qc.ca/reftext.nsf/Documents/Quebec_-_Etat--La_devise_Je_me_souviens_par_Gaston_Deschenes&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dje%2Bme%2Bsouviens%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

Sir,
According to an article (Feb. 4), there is confusion about the Quebec motto.
As you mentioned, it was written by E. E. Taché. "Je me souviens" is only the first line, which may be the cause of the confusion. It goes like this:
Je me souviens/Que né sous le lys/Je croîs sous la rose.
I remember/That born under the lily/I grow under the rose.
I am a granddaughter of Eugène Étienne Taché. My aunt, Mme Clara Taché Fragasso of Quebec City, is the only surviving daughter of E. E. Taché.
I hope that this enlightens some of your readers.
H. Pâquet, St. Lambert. »

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Ne obliviscaris is a heated phrase in some circles - it is the motto of the Clan Campbell, perpetrators if you will remember of the Glencoe Massacre in 1692.

Since our Pipe Major years ago was a pretend Scot, we used to play The Campbells are Coming to annoy him, and one cheeky private put NE OBLIVISCARIS on his practice chanter.    The PM was a bit nuts anyway, he had a self-imposed embargo on Dole products for what they allegedly did to Hawaii - bearing a grudge for 300 years probably isn't a record, but when you're at least 3rd generation Canadian seems a bit silly.

 

[bossi]

Gunnar is correct, although I can't vouch for the accuracy of the wording. I will eventually come up with it and the poet's name. This was a bit of history taught at Hamilton Teachers' College in the late 1950s.

Thanks, Gunnar and Bill - for a non-historian such as myself, this is illuminating (to say the least!)

And, as Michael's story about the Dole embargo ... it sounds like a story from California
(i.e. even though it's not on their license plate, "the land of fruits and nuts? ... haha!)

 

[Big Foot]

Glad to see the vets finally getting recognition nation wide, though I can't say I've ever seen a Veterans plate for a province other than Ontario...

 

[Spr.Earl]

I like the plate,it's better than B.C.'s
bit of trivia about the Monument any one know?
I forget were it is in France but there is some neat trivia about it.
Biil et al Shhhh!
Let the youngn's answer.

 

[1feral1]

A good gesture to our Vets, but 25 years too late for many. As for the next generation, they too have honoured themselves in service to their country, some giving their whole careers without deployment/active service, but have offered the best years of their lives to the CF.

For those willing to display these number plates on their vehicles, show 'em with pride for the ghosts of Canadian soldiers past, of which many thousand have no known grave.



Cold beers,

Wes

 

[the 48th regulator]

Sorry to drum up and old topic folks, but thought this would fit in with this thread...


The city of Toronto is providing a perk for the Year of The Veterans. A council motion was passed on 19 July to allow Veterans to park for free on the streets of Toronto for the rest of the year. This is direct from a document (I will attach as well) from the City of Toronto Website.

START

J(2)
NOTICE OF MOTION
Free Parking for Canadian Veterans
Moved by: Councillor Walker
Seconded by: Councillor Jenkins
WHEREAS the Honourable Albina Guarnieri, Minister of Veterans Affairs did, on the 5th day of November, 2004, declare that 2005 shall be the "Year of the Veteran", in honour of those who served this country and in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War; and
WHEREAS the Honourable Harindar Takhar, Minister of Transportation did, on the 23rd day of December, 2003, present the first graphic "Veteran Licence Plate" to a veteran of the Second World War; and
WHEREAS the Ministry of Transportation continues to issue said Veteran Licence Plates to eligible Ontarians who served or are serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, the Allied Forces, the Merchant Navy or the Ferry Command; and
WHEREAS it is appropriate that the City of Toronto demonstrate its support of Canadian Veterans and further honour those who served and who continue to serve their country; and
WHEREAS the City of Hamilton has already taken the initiative to pass By-Law No. 05-157, which amends the by-laws relating to on-street parking and municipal parking facilities to allow free parking for Veterans within its municipal boundaries;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, during permitted hours, all vehicles bearing a valid Ontario Veteran Licence Plate be exempted from standard parking fees at all on-street parking meters and in municipally operated parking facilities for the duration of 2005;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the appropriate traffic by-laws be amended and City Staff take appropriate action to give effect to the foregoing;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the necessary provisions of Chapter 27 of the City of Toronto Municipal Code be waived to permit introduction and debate of this Notice of Motion at the meeting of Council to be held on July 19, 2005.
July 19, 2005

END

dileas

tess

[Moderator edit:  Typographical edit only - no content changed]

 

[Blakey]

MarkC, AMEN TO THAT Totally agree with every word of your post.

 

[Bartok5]

Since this thread was resurrected, I have re-read my original post (which I had entirely forgotten about).   Suffice it to say that my original views have not changed....    If anything, they are continually reinforced by the frequent sight of fresh-faced troops in their early 20s roaring around the   Fredericton/Oromocto area with Veteran's plates on their souped up Honda Civics, et-al.    :

I can't help the fact that it makes me personally cringe, but hey - each to their own....

 

[Lance Wiebe]

I'm with you, Mark.  I asked a MCpl why he opted for the Veterans Plates, just out of sheer curiousity.  I know he has not gone on any tours, so how does he consider himslf a veteran.  His response?  "I meet the criteria for a veteran, so why not?"

I don't know.  Maybe in a few years I'll start seeing myself as a "vet".  But not yet. 

 

[mover1]

I moved to N.S. was asked if I wanted a veterans plate. I mulled it over and sent my 490A to the Legion command in Halifax. Whoa lookie there I was considered a veteran.

I got my plate. And then put my airforce licence plate cover on it. It covers the veteran lettering and all you can see is the flag and the numbers on the plate. It looks really nice. Displaying the flag for all to see.

Do I want any special recognition?

No

Do I have it on there because I deserve it or think I am entitled to it?

No but the price was right (5 $) and its and easy number to remember when filling out a claim or a hotel slip.

Were my tours that hard? Did I live in trenches and write timeless poetry, kill a man with my knife just to watch him die?

No Actually they (my tours) were pretty choice. Hotels with room service and lots of wine, But we did bomb a country, occupy a nation, etc etc

So why do it.
It is simple each time I get out of my car and someone says to me that I don't look like a veteran. I ask what are they supposed to look like. Then the questions to where I have been and what I did invariably come up. Usually their response is "I didn't know that".  So in one way it educates that ungrateful and ignorant culture that we defend as to what we do.

Yes some of the veterans plates are cheesy and some people don't like them. Just like people don't like blue name tags or MK III combat boots. But the reality is that they are here to stay and we have to live with them. It is personal choice to have one after all, and if you want to limit peoples personal choice. Or you wish to change how the plates are administered I suggest you get in touch with the local legion. After all they are the ones who invariably say yea or nay on your eligibility ( In Nova Scotia anyways)