Tag Archives: respect

Respectfully, I Withhold my Support

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By Jason Menard

In light of the recent flap regarding the Department of National Defense’s demand to bring down a “Support Our Troops” billboard, one thing has been taken for granted – that all Canadians are on board with the idea of support.

I, for one, respectfully withhold mine. In the end, I respect our troops and their efforts – but I can’t support their war. And by lending my support to our troops, I’m tacitly endorsing their efforts – as anathema as they may be to me.

I suggest that we, like the DND when faced with media pressure on this issue, do an about-face and change the mantra to “Respect Our Troops.” At the very least, that’s what they deserve. Support, respect – it may seem like nothing more than semantics, but like Elvis sang, “words are all I have to steal your heart away.”

Am I less patriotic due to the fact that I won’t utter the words support? Does that make me admire our soldiers any less for the rigors they face on a daily basis? No. But that’s not a display of support – that’s me showing my respect for their activities.

Unfortunately, any sort of commentary against the sentiment of “Support our Troops” will bring vociferous opposition and brandings of anti-Canadian. That’s far from the reality. True patriotism doesn’t mean blindly following the will and expression of our leaders. True patriotism comes from questioning every action that our nation takes and making sure we’re the best country we can be.

Why is military exempt from this criticism? Environmentalists go into each and every action with the best intentions, but their efforts and practices are subject to intense scrutiny. Disagreeing with David Suzuki doesn’t make you a closet industrialist willing to rape and pillage the earth for your own misbegotten advancement. So why are any words uttered against our military presence in other countries likened to treason?

We can respect our soldiers and appreciate their efforts to — quoting an overused sentiment – fight for our freedoms. But does that appreciation write a blank cheque for any and all military actions? I’m afraid not.

Canadians can be proud of their military and peacekeeping history. And, for some, our role in Afghanistan is a signal that our international presence still has some meaning. But, for others, our role in a foreign dispute is questionable. The Afghanistan situation is ripe for scrutiny, in light of the history of conflict in the region. When Soviet tanks rumbled through the streets of Kandahar, where were the North American forces? Tiptoeing a line and supporting the Taliban behind the scenes.

So, although many of the arguments that justify our current involvement in Afghanistan were there then – such as the oppression of the people, we didn’t make any move until it was politically appropriate to do so (and we wouldn’t run the risk of escalating Cold War sensitivities). For that reason alone, our involvement is questionable.

Simply put, a just war is just at any time – not just when the political environment is right.

Can each and every Canadian look deep inside their hearts and know, without any shadow of doubt, that our involvement in Afghanistan is the right thing? Can we really believe that war – and lets be real, this is peace-making, not peace-keeping – is the best answer to the region’s problems? If there’s a shadow of a doubt anywhere in your mind, how can you lend your wholehearted support to the effort?

And if you shout from the rooftops to support our troops, is that not what you’re doing. The argument that we’re supporting our soldiers, not necessarily the war doesn’t hold water. “Our soldiers” are involved in a war. Their actions are defining the combat as it takes place – one can’t be removed from the other.

That’s why I’ll respectfully withhold my support from our soldiers. But that doesn’t mean I don’t respect their efforts and admire them for their determination and their willingness to lay down their lives for the cause. I just hope they believe more in the cause for which they’re willing to make the ultimate sacrifice than I do.

Respect Our Troops. Now that’s a sentiment that I could get behind 100 per cent.

2006© Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved

What Ever Happened to Respect?

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By Jason Menard

Silence is not only golden – it’s respectful. Well, it is at least until the moment that some disrespectful moron chooses to misuse that honourable pause to draw attention to themselves with their 15 seconds of fame.

As the band Sloan once sang, “it’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans.” And that sentiment can be carried on to a select few attendees at our arenas and stadiums. When it comes learning how to show respect, Canadian sporting fans have a long way to go to.

An interesting parallel was broken at the recent home opener for the London Knights junior hockey club. When two veterans of combat came on to the ice to take part in an opening ceremony, they were greeted with a standing ovation from the assembled throng. But this is contrasted with a select few idiots choosing to use the singing of the national anthem as the background music for their sub-intellectual, puerile outbursts.

Does it not seem somewhat odd that we’re willing to stand and gratefully acknowledge the contributions that the veterans have made to the betterment of our society, yet when it comes to honouring the very flag and anthem for which they fought, we’re found woefully lacking?

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that sporting events should be a time of fun, excitement, and celebration. And I appreciate the overwhelming crescendo of applause and cheers that build as the anthem reaches its climax. But there is a time and place for everything, and interrupting our anthem in the middle to release a guttural, animalistic scream is disrespectful and insulting to all Canadians.

And this isn’t just a London thing. It happens all the time in arenas and stadiums across the country. Whether it’s hockey, football, baseball, or any other sport you can imagine, I’ve yet to find one sport that’s immune from the presence of this particular self-congratulatory glory hound.

Really, is in the middle of a song that represents our nation – one with which we should be standing at attention and singing along – the best time to shout “Go Team Go!?” Honestly, I’m pleased that at that moment you finally were able to muster enough brain cells to string two words together (I’m sure it helped that two were short and were the same word, though), but those are sentiments that don’t have a shelf life. They don’t need to be accompanied by Calixa Lavallée’s soundtrack, nor do they need Mr. Justice Robert Stanley Weir’s or Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier’s (depending on which language, of course) lyrics serving as background vocals for your indispensable contribution to Canadian pride.

Of course, how can we expect to show our anthem the proper respect when we don’t place a premium on it in other aspects of life? Our children listen to the national anthem in school, but don’t sing along. In fact, my 11-year-old son states that many kids in his school talk through the anthem or otherwise act inappropriately. O Canada is an anthem of pride, but each year we see Remembrance Day inch closer and closer to irrelevancy due to the lack of interest we have.

This isn’t like the debate about prayer in school. There is no grey area. The moment we choose to live in this country, we are all Canadians. While each of us is encouraged to retain our social, cultural, and religious identities, we must also recognize that we are all Canadians. And the anthem, like the flag it represents, is a tangible representation of what it means to be Canadians and, as such, deserves respect.

The anthem is powerful. I remember attending an opening day for baseball’s Montreal Expos a few years back. When the anthem started, it was met with a small chorus of boos – which is political expression at its best. But instead of being overwhelmed, the others in the packed stadium sang with all their hearts and voices, the volume rising until the naysayers were overwhelmed. The sense of Canadiana and connection to each other was palpable and it was one of the most moving experiences. At that moment, I truly felt what it meant to be proud of our country. I was able to express outwardly what I’ve always felt inwardly.

We need more moments like that. We need to express our pride to truly feel our pride. And that needs to be done without some moron interrupting the process. Showing pride in our country isn’t the domain of beer commercials – it’s up to each and every one of us to take a stand and use these moments to showcase the best that the country has to offer.

2005 © Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved

Question of Honour or Savagery?

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By Jason Menard

Although the game’s played on ice, it seems that nothing heats up a Canadian’s passion than taking a critical look at the game of hockey.

Response to a column that I wrote in the Aug. 11, 2005 edition of The National Post, has been swift, passionate, and polarized. The column, which examined the questionable timing of the NHL’s reinstatement of the Vancouver Canucks’ Todd Bertuzzi on the same day as Wayne Gretzky’s announcement of his return to the game, was met with approval by some, but with vehement disapproval by others.

And what surprised me about the e-mailers who disagreed with me was not that they disagreed with the timing of the announcement, or with the actual point of my column – they were passionately opposed to the suspension in the first place, essentially saying Steve Moore, the object of Bertuzzi’s lack of affection, deserved it.

It seems that, according to the e-mailers, Bertuzzi did nothing more than avenge hockey’s karmic gods, which Moore angered by elbowing Bertuzzi’s teammate Markus Naslund. That, in the context of hockey, Bertuzzi’s actions were honourable and that he was being a stand-up teammate.

In fact, one respondent actually referred to Mr. Bertuzzi’s attack of Steve Moore as a “mild take down of the NHL’s honour code.” If Bertuzzi’s attack was mild, apparently more serious infractions should be met with death in the future.

How does the culture of hockey change when some of its fans and some of its players still ascribe to this barbaric system of retribution. The hockey gods must be of the Old Testament variety if this eye-for-an-eye honour code is how they must be appeased. And if the fans are willing to circle the wagons – or even start forming a lynch mob – to avenge their fallen heroes, then perhaps the game has deeper problems than a new CBA and a stricter enforcement of the rules can fix.

The idea of payback has been a part of hockey for generations. The Gordie Howes and Maurice Richards would dole out retribution on their own and were as tough as they were talented. Later on, the role of the enforcer developed – which explained why Dave Semenko was able to ride shotgun with Wayne Gretzky all those years – to allow the skill players to be skilled without fear of the opposing team taking liberties with them.

Bertuzzi, the player, signaled a throwback to the players of yesteryear — big, tough, talented, with hands as soft around the net as they were tough in a fight. And, it’s true that his act against Moore was done to avenge Moore’s hit on Naslund that put him out of commission. But the thing about honour is that it’s best served face-to-face. Not from behind, bulldogging your opponent to the ice face-first.

The players of yesteryear had a respect for each other. Whether it was borne from the lack of helmets or from the fact that they weren’t set for life with their rookie contract, they played the game tough, sometimes dirty, but not with the intention of blindsiding an opponent. Even the so-called goons respected the game enough to only go after each other.

The problem with the way hockey’s unspoken honour code is being interpreted is that many of the fans – and players themselves – forget that a major component of honour is respect. Respect for the game, respect for the fans, and respect for your fellow opponents.

I can understand the idea of standing up for yourself and your teammates. It’s one of the things that make this team sport so attractive – but there are limits. Just because somebody cuts my wife off on the highway doesn’t mean I get to run them off the road the next time I see them.

Hockey’s honour code does not foster the lawless society that some of the e-mailers believe. It does not allow for vigilante justice of this nature. While Bertuzzi’s intent may have been honourable, the way he enacted his frontier justice was not. Bertuzzi’s heart was in the right place, but his head and body weren’t on the same page. And even the fact that Moore was skating away from the confrontation does not justify jumping on his back.

Of course, it seems a lot of Bertuzzi fans would like nothing more to jump on Moore’s back along with him. The game of hockey is built upon the foundations of speed, beauty, and toughness – not savagery. And while honour has its place, it can’t exist without respect.

If the fans and the players lose that respect for one another, then our beloved game of hockey will devolve into nothing more than a bloodsport.

2005 © Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved