Friday, February 7th, 2025

The Creemore Echo has attended the Remembrance Day service at the Creemore Legion for many years.
The Legion has always presented a moving tribute to all fallen soldiers, with special mention of those who left these parts for battlefields and never returned. The Legion also hosts a group of soldiers from Base Borden.
The multi-denominational service is a model for inclusivity and community pride. After the service a wonderful lunch is served to the large crowd, prepared by the Legion Ladies Auxiliary.
The Legion works tirelessly to meet its mandate and support veterans.
For many years, speaker George Jonescu was the highlight of the service, with remarks both touching and humorous. Unfortunately this year, he did not heed his own advice to not bring politics or religion into a Remembrance Day address.
For those not in attendance, and without repeating all of the disparaging remarks, Jonescu made comments about Muslims and criticized the cultural make-up of the new Liberal government, among other sensitive topics.
People were offended by these comments, perhaps more so because they were made during a service in honour of peace.
Most striking, is that Canadians have gone to war to fight against exactly that kind of bigotry.
Some people felt they wanted to leave the auditorium so they wouldn’t have to hear any more but also felt they didn’t want to disrespect the Legion, others were simply shocked.
We do not wade into this conversation lightly and there is a chance that it will cause hurt feelings.
But that fear of insulting people is why sensitive topics aren’t brought into the public and that is not the right approach.
That kind of hateful comment is not reflective of the values of the Legion and not of this community as a whole.
There are people good and bad in this world but nothing good ever comes of lumping people together. Veterans fought and gave their lives so that people had the freedom to practice their religion and culture and we Canadians pride ourselves on being a diverse country. That is not everyone’s reality but it is the image we reflect as a nation.
Ignoring or discounting hateful comments, while the easy thing to do, does nothing to ensure that we preserve the inclusive and accepting culture that we have fought for – that our community members fought for.
Poorly chosen words will not undermine the good work of the Legion nor will it hinder our ability to stay focused on peace during this time of remembrance.
Enter into the conversation by sending us a letter to the editor.
E-mail info@creemore.com or drop letters off at The Echo office. Letters must include the sender’s full name.

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