Poilievre slams Remembrance ceremonies hijacked by ‘woke’ politics

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Amid revelations that an Ontario school picked a Palestinian protest anthem as the music for its Remembrance Day ceremony, it was not the only Remembrance Day to be co-opted by anti-Israel or “decolonial” politics.

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On Tuesday, this prompted Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to issue a statement on X calling it an “an absolute disgrace that so many woke activists & authorities used Remembrance Day to push their divisive and radical causes, denigrating our history and the brave military members who sacrificed for it.”

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In Kingston, Ont., a ceremony at the Murney Tower National Historic Site was conducted within view of a line of about a dozen anti-Israel demonstrators holding “Free Palestine” signage. “Against war, fascism, colonialism and imperialism at home & abroad,” read one.

The official City of Toronto ceremony earned condemnation from former top soldier Rick Hillier for opening proceedings with an extended land acknowledgement that included a condemnation of the Atlantic slave trade.

“We are nothing but ‘sheep’ to put up with this condescending lecture at any time, but especially today. A day devoted to those who served and sacrificed to build a country that doesn’t have that,” wrote Hillier in a social media post.

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Hillier was chief of the defence staff from 2005 to 2008, at the height of Canada’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

The acknowledgement was delivered by Aretha Phillip, chief of protocol for the City of Toronto.

“The City of Toronto acknowledges all treaty peoples, including those who came here as settlers, as migrants — either in this generation or in generations past — and those of us who came here involuntarily, particularly those brought to these lands as a result of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade,” she said.

Indigenous land acknowledgements are standard protocol at most Canadian civic events, including Remembrance Day ceremonies. The largest ceremony in Calgary, for instance, had emcee Linda Olsen name the constituent First Nations of Treaty 7, whose lands cover most of Southern Alberta.

Where Toronto’s differed is in naming non-Indigenous attendees as “settlers” or “migrants” — and in mentioning slavery. The latter issue being particularly unusual given that all of the soldiers honoured by Remembrance Day fought for a country that had no institutional legacy of slavery.

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Slavery had been illegal in British North American since 1833 — 34 years before the formation of the Dominion of Canada.

In Mississauga, Remembrance Day iconography was also co-opted for a planned public vigil for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the central architect of the October 7 massacres in Southern Israel.

Firas Al Najim, head of the group Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights, covered literature for the vigil with Remembrance Day poppies. And in a video shot in front of a Royal Canadian Legion branch, Al Najim compared remembrance of the terrorist leader (whom he called a “great hero”) to remembrance of fallen Canadian soldiers.

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On Monday, administrators at Ontario’s Sir Robert Borden School picked an Arabic-language Palestinian protest anthem, Haza Salam, to serve as the only music featured at their Remembrance Day ceremony.

The song is closely associated with the anti-Israel movement. Recordings of the anthem available on YouTube are almost all accompanied by “Free Palestine” imagery.

Although school Principal Aaron Hobbs had initially defended the song as bringing “diversity and inclusion” to the ceremony, he changed his tune following pushback from parents and local MPP Lisa MacLeod, who condemned the choice in a Facebook post.

“To my Jewish constituents, I am sorry your kids are going through this,” she wrote.

As Hobbs would explain in a letter to parents, “we recognize that the song chosen — while intended to highlight themes of peace — also inadvertently caused offence and discomfort to some students, and for that, we regret our choice.

This all comes amidst official efforts to remove Christian prayers from official Remembrance Day ceremonies on the grounds that they’re divisive.

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A recent directive by the Department of National Defence told chaplains to refrain from prayer or religious language in favour of a “reflection.” “The reflection shall be inclusive in nature, and respectful of the religious and spiritual diversity of Canada,” it read.

That same directive also advised chaplains to “consider the potential that some items or symbols may cause discomfort or traumatic feelings when choosing the dress they wear during public occasions.”

IN OTHER NEWS

The last time Donald Trump became U.S. president, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an extremely well-circulated social media post that would end up being seen as an invitation for illegal migrants to enter Canada before Trump could deport them. “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength,” wrote Trudeau in a tweet issued immediately after Trump’s inauguration that still stands as one of the most widely viewed posts in the platform’s history. It would end up helping to spur an unprecedented tide of illegal border crossings from the United States that hasn’t really abated in the years since. So, this time around, the Trudeau government is being slightly more cautious. On the topic of mass-deportations from the U.S., Immigration Minister Marc Miller told The Globe and Mail that “not everyone is welcome” in Canada.

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The Liberals have recently been improving their poll numbers, but only to the extent that they’re now facing a devastating wipeout, instead of a catastrophic one. One of the more optimistic recent polls comes from Nanos, where the Liberals are polling at 24.9 per cent. This means they’re not in third place anymore, but they’re still 16 points behind the Conservatives. Under almost any projection, that gives the Conservatives a majority in the next election, although not the utterly crushing one that was in the cards only a few months ago.

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