Pardon My Loyalty

"I told the young people they had crossed a line where their personal beliefs, their personal ideology -- which they are allowed to have -- got into the public domain."
"Their personal beliefs, whether religious, political or white supremacy, whatever the Proud Boys represent, it's not a shared value of the Canadian Armed Forces."
"I apologize for the actions of my young sailors, and ... I hope that those young people will find a moment to make their own apologies in due course."
"We  have such a very open and inclusive message. It helps to stabilize conflict around the world. Those values are very much at stake in an incident like this."
Rear Admiral John Newton, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Chief Grizzly Mamma shaved her head  in Halifax at the Statue of Edward Cornwallis, former Nova Scotia governor, as a symbol of mourning. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)

"The actions of a few do not reflect the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Army commitment to being inclusive and diverse organizations."
"[The chain of command] takes action [when a member's conduct betrays the military code]."
Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd/Lt.-General Paul Wynnyk

"What happened was deplorable. [The offending men were removed from training and duties as the military police conduct their investigation]."
"Their future [the offending five young men representing their personal pride as Canadians while members of the Canadian navy and army]in the military is certainly in doubt."
Chief of the Defence Staff, John Vance

"This kind of behaviour is not tolerated in the Canadian Armed Forces."
"There will be consequences for CAF [Canadian Armed Forces] members who express intolerance while in -- or out -- of uniform."
Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan

Richard Blackwolf, far left, says the Canadian Armed Forces members who confronted Indigenous activists were 'silly' to have gotten involved in a standoff, but should not be forced out of the military. (Michael Fazio/CBC)

Oh dear. Pride in one's country may no longer be expressed, particularly on that most prideful of all days in the calendar year, Canada Day, July 1. And if an extra measure of pride and loyalty on Canada's 150th 'birthday' seemed appropriate to most Canadians who looked forward to appearing at significant Canadian commemoration spots throughout the country in all of its cities, inviting all of its citizens to enjoy themselves in a grand celebration, when would it be appropriate?

Oops, lest we forget. It was definitely not appropriate for Canada's aboriginal peoples. They put on particular and special shows of aggrieved defiance, from setting up protests on Parliament Hill to appearing throughout the country where tributes in statuary sit to founders of the nation, to express their fury at a celebration that they insist came at a dreadful cost to Canada's native peoples. Who had indeed experienced the misfortune of foreigners flooding a land they considered their own, with all the indignities, hardships and miseries that accompanied that history.

Canada's aboriginal communities insist that they are a nation within a nation. And contrite Canadians, asking forgiveness for the colonialist past where their ancestors deprived the original dwellers of the land of their status and their homeland, will never, ever be able to satisfy the aggrieved demands and the poisoned darts of blame that aim ceaselessly for a target mostly acquiescing in that blame and shame. Which accounts in large part for prodigious efforts to attempt to appease the claims.

But the fact of the matter is, victimhood is so tightly embraced that solutions elude. Any ventures undertaken are struck down with contempt. And contempt is precisely what Canada's sesquicentennial was treated to in the face of aboriginal claims of "a fu---ng genocide". So when the five young men in this controversy heard of a different kind of ceremony set to take place around the statue of the former governor of Nova Scotia and the founder of Halifax, they decided to have a look, carrying the old Red Ensign with them.

There they found a Canadian flag scribbled with "decolonize" on it, being carried upside-down, the intention to represent atrocities committed against Canada's Indigenous people. The young men explained when their appearance was  questioned that they were simply curious. Someone informed them "This is Mi'kmaq territory". One of the young men responded with his own statement: "This is Canada". At no time was there disrespect evinced, no loud voices, no accusations -- not from the five young men.

The acrimonious insults erupted from the First Nations people conducting their sacred ceremony which included disrespecting the national flag of Canada. Though they hadn't been in uniform, social media revealed them to have been members of the Canadian Forces; four sailors, one with the army. Now, their innocent encounter with bitterly aversive Aboriginals relishing their victimhood and whipping themselves into a frenzy of ferocious hatred on Canada Day has resulted in their abandonment.

The craven, politically-correct authorities in the Canadian Armed Forces, not to mention the Minister of National Defence illustrates just how morbidly absurd the situation is. The crude animosity of First Nations peoples unless they are kow-towed to constantly is suffered with good grace and patience. They can accuse and cast aspersions as unfairly and as frequently as they have a mind to, and that is often and venomously, but no criticism, however gentle, may come their way.

What a sad and sorry spectacle. The Minister of National Defence, sternly admonishing all and sundry that such untoward behaviour as that exhibited by the unfortunate five is not to be accepted. While he, on the other hand, in an exercise of prideful self-aggrandizement can tell whoppers to impress a foreign audience, in the process insulting the very Armed Forces he represents, and aside from public embarrassment there is little penance to pay.

"The whole military has become politicized, we're living in a politically correct era and they [the CAF members] should have realized that this thing would be a media event."
"But, hopefully, it won't affect their overall careers. I mean they just showed up there with a flag. They didn't beat up on anybody, it's not like that."
Richard Blackwolf, national president, Canadian Aboriginal Veterans and Serving Members Association (CAV)