Why is military showcased at sporting events?

[Oscar]

Why is military showcased at sporting events?

[ http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/51 ... g-events-/ ]

Hamilton Spectator December 9, 2014

QUOTE: " I don't understand why the military is given a special place at sporting events in Canada. This wasn't the case in the past. We used to think only Americans did this. Is it because Stephen Harper's government is promoting Canada as a "warrior nation" rather than a peacekeeping country?" --- Steve Matheson, Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War

Military and sports

Why was Canada's military given centre stage at the Grey Cup? The Grey Cup was delivered in a Canadian navy zodiac. General Tom Lawson, Defence Staff chief, flipped the coin at the game's beginning. During the national anthem, there were more Canadian Forces personnel on the field than Canadian football players..

I don't understand why the military is given a special place at sporting events in Canada. This wasn't the case in the past. We used to think only Americans did this. Is it because Stephen Harper's government is promoting Canada as a "warrior nation" rather than a peacekeeping country?

Some might say it's because the military "protects our freedoms." But there are lots of public servants who protect us who were nowhere to be found on the football field, such as mental health professionals. These workers help veterans deal with the stresses of their combat experiences and athletes with brain injuries. And if we had a functioning mental health system in this country, these professionals could've addressed issues that led to the unfortunate shooting of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. But instead of mental health workers, doctors, nurses, teachers, or social workers, it's soldiers who are regularly showcased at sporting events. Why?

Steve Matheson, Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War

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Warrior Nation, Canada's New Brand

[ http://thetyee.ca/Books/2012/08/11/Warrior-Nation/ ]

Inside the push to militarize our collective memory, and what it costs us.

By Ian McKay and Jamie Swift, 11 Aug 2012, TheTyee.ca

Quote: "This perpetual war economy, already extraordinarily expensive, will become more and more burdensome. "Redistributive militarism" entails increases in war spending along with tax cuts for the wealthy. Peace activist Matthew Behrens notes: "Slightly more than $63 million a day is spent on Canada's war machine. That's the daily equivalent of 420 affordable housing units or 3,000 four-year full-tuition grants for university students. Over the course of a month, that's 13,000 affordable housing units and 90,000 students going to university without massive debt load." The welfare state is starved so that the warfare state might thrive. Canada as Warrior Nation means a stance of permanent aggression. It also signifies a hard, competitive society in which the weak go to the wall. We all become warriors -- in a permanent struggle against each other."

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"Warrior Nation: Rebranding Canada in an Age of Anxiety”

[ http://www.amazon.ca/Warrior-Nation-Reb ... 1926662776 ]

by Ian McKay (Author), Jamie Swift (Author) Paperback – May 26 2012

Once known for peacekeeping, Canada is becoming a militarized nation whose apostles—the New Warriors—are fighting to shift public opinion. New Warrior zealots seek to transform postwar Canada’s central myth-symbols. Peaceable kingdom. Just society. Multicultural tolerance. Reasoned public debate. Their replacements? A warrior nation. Authoritarian leadership. Permanent political polarization.

The tales cast a vivid light on a story that is crucial to Canada’s future; yet they are also compelling history. Swashbuckling marauder William Stairs, the Royal Military College graduate who helped make the Congo safe for European pillage. Vimy Ridge veteran and Second World War general Tommy Burns, leader of the UN’s first big peacekeeping operation, a soldier who would come to call imperialism “the monster of the age.” Governor General John Buchan, a concentration camp developer and race theorist who is exalted in the Harper government’s new Citizenship Guide. And that uniquely Canadian paradox, Lester Pearson. Warrior Nation is an essential read for those concerned by the relentless effort to conscript Canadian history.

Watch the Warrior Nation video book trailer here:
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2OwJ51ZaTw ]

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"This excellent and timely book offers a much needed corrective to the new warrior scholarship that is becoming so pervasive. It should be on the reading list of anyone who is interested in Canadian politics, international relations, and foreign policy." —Sandra Whitworth, political science, York University