Connect with us

Community

Sharing the story of a century ago

Published

4 minute read

A local author will share a unique perspective on the Battle of Vimy Ridge at the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery, Sunday. Sigmund Brouwer’s recently released book, Innocent Heroes, is a fictionalized account of the role animals played in the pivotal battle that many say helped establish our country’s national identity.

“As Canadians we tend to underplay our accomplishments; this was such an incredible victory against all odds that it’s very appropriate for us to look back on it with pride,” Brouwer wrote. The battle, synonymous with sacrifice and national pride, accounted for more than 10,000 Canadian casualties, including nearly 3,600 dead. It marked the first time when all four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in a battle together.

Brouwer focuses on the use of animals in Innocent Heroes, partly to soften the rigors of war for the book’s youthful audience, and to provide context. “I decided that inspiring animal heroes would be appropriate for that audience. They can still learn about the war in the battle without a focus on the horrible things that happened,” he adds.

The book focuses on three young Canadian soldiers and their experiences in the trenches at Vimy. Their bonds to the innocents, the animals they employed in helping their platoons take Vimy Ridge, are at the heart of Brouwer’s story. Released earlier this year, Innocent Heroes is already starting to appear in Canadian classrooms, and benefits from a comprehensive study guide, developed by teachers.

Extensive research into the history of the iconic battle and the letters of soldiers involved, formed the foundation for the fictional accounts in the book. While the characters, both human and animal are fictional, the story is accurate and reflects the tone and atmosphere of the great war a century ago. It’s not entirely coincidence that the author chose the timing and subject of Innocent Heroes. “While the aspect of amazing animal stories intrigue me, I would’ve written the story anyway, I was aware that 2017 would raise awareness of the battle,” he shares.

Each of the stories within the book is followed by a non-fiction section that details the experiences of animals and Canadian soldiers in the conflict. Many readers will be amazed at the sheer number of animals that participated; technology has largely replaced animals in warfare, although there are still roles played by dogs in military conflicts around the planet.

“Most Canadian historians and military people point to this as the moment that defined our national identity. My sense is that we are often taught the facts and the information. I will happily argue that story is the best way for us to absorb important lessons and understandings,” Brouwer tells us.

His multimedia session at MAG begins at 1:30 p.m. and is recommended for ages 8+.
To learn more about Innocent Heroes including an accompanying song and video, CLICK HERE.

Innocent Heroes is available at Chapters and online at amazon.ca

For details on the MAG event CLICK HERE.

Follow Author

Community

SPARC Red Deer – Caring Adult Nominations open now!

Published on

Red Deer community let’s give a round of applause to the incredible adults shaping the future of our kids. Whether they’re a coach, neighbour, teacher, mentor, instructor, or someone special, we want to know about them!

Tell us the inspiring story of how your nominee is helping kids grow up great. We will honour the first 100 local nominees for their outstanding contributions to youth development. It’s time to highlight those who consistently go above and beyond!

To nominate, visit Events (sparcreddeer.ca)

Continue Reading

Addictions

‘Harm Reduction’ is killing B.C.’s addicts. There’s got to be a better way

Published on

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Susan Martinuk 

B.C. recently decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. The resulting explosion of addicts using drugs in public spaces, including parks and playgrounds, recently led the province’s NDP government to attempt to backtrack on this policy

Since 2016, more than 40,000 Canadians have died from opioid drug overdoses — almost as many as died during the Second World War.
Governments, health care professionals and addiction experts all acknowledge that widespread use of opioids has created a public health crisis in Canada. Yet they agree on virtually nothing else about this crisis, including its causes, possible remedies and whether addicts should be regarded as passive victims or accountable moral agents.

Fuelled by the deadly manufactured opioid fentanyl, Canada’s national drug overdose rate stood at 19.3 people per 100,000 in 2022, a shockingly high number when compared to the European Union’s rate of just 1.8. But national statistics hide considerable geographic variation. British Columbia and Alberta together account for only a quarter of Canada’s population yet nearly half of all opioid deaths. B.C.’s 2022 death rate of 45.2/100,000 is more than double the national average, with Alberta close behind at 33.3/100,00.

In response to the drug crisis, Canada’s two western-most provinces have taken markedly divergent approaches, and in doing so have created a natural experiment with national implications.

B.C. has emphasized harm reduction, which seeks to eliminate the damaging effects of illicit drugs without actually removing them from the equation. The strategy focuses on creating access to clean drugs and includes such measures as “safe” injection sites, needle exchange programs, crack-pipe giveaways and even drug-dispensing vending machines. The approach goes so far as to distribute drugs like heroin and cocaine free of charge in the hope addicts will no longer be tempted by potentially tainted street drugs and may eventually seek help.

But safe-supply policies create many unexpected consequences. A National Post investigation found, for example, that government-supplied hydromorphone pills handed out to addicts in Vancouver are often re-sold on the street to other addicts. The sellers then use the money to purchase a street drug that provides a better high — namely, fentanyl.

Doubling down on safe supply, B.C. recently decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. The resulting explosion of addicts using drugs in public spaces, including parks and playgrounds, recently led the province’s NDP government to attempt to backtrack on this policy — though for now that effort has been stymied by the courts.

According to Vancouver city councillor Brian Montague, “The stats tell us that harm reduction isn’t working.” In an interview, he calls decriminalization “a disaster” and proposes a policy shift that recognizes the connection between mental illness and addiction. The province, he says, needs “massive numbers of beds in treatment facilities that deal with both addictions and long-term mental health problems (plus) access to free counselling and housing.”

In fact, Montague’s wish is coming true — one province east, in Alberta. Since the United Conservative Party was elected in 2019, Alberta has been transforming its drug addiction policy away from harm reduction and towards publicly-funded treatment and recovery efforts.

Instead of offering safe-injection sites and free drugs, Alberta is building a network of 10 therapeutic communities across the province where patients can stay for up to a year, receiving therapy and medical treatment and developing skills that will enable them to build a life outside the drug culture. All for free. The province’s first two new recovery centres opened last year in Lethbridge and Red Deer. There are currently over 29,000 addiction treatment spaces in the province.

This treatment-based strategy is in large part the work of Marshall Smith, current chief of staff to Alberta’s premier and a former addict himself, whose life story is a testament to the importance of treatment and recovery.

The sharply contrasting policies of B.C. and Alberta allow a comparison of what works and what doesn’t. A first, tentative report card on this natural experiment was produced last year in a study from Stanford University’s network on addiction policy (SNAP). Noting “a lack of policy innovation in B.C.,” where harm reduction has become the dominant policy approach, the report argues that in fact “Alberta is currently experiencing a reduction in key addiction-related harms.” But it concludes that “Canada overall, and B.C. in particular, is not yet showing the progress that the public and those impacted by drug addiction deserve.”

The report is admittedly an early analysis of these two contrasting approaches. Most of Alberta’s recovery homes are still under construction, and B.C.’s decriminalization policy is only a year old. And since the report was published, opioid death rates have inched higher in both provinces.

Still, the early returns do seem to favour Alberta’s approach. That should be regarded as good news. Society certainly has an obligation to try to help drug users. But that duty must involve more than offering addicts free drugs. Addicted people need treatment so they can kick their potentially deadly habit and go on to live healthy, meaningful lives. Dignity comes from a life of purpose and self-control, not a government-funded fix.

Susan Martinuk is a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and author of the 2021 book Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health Care Crisis. A longer version of this article recently appeared at C2CJournal.ca.

Continue Reading

Trending

X