We used to be "British" once...

After reading Beaverbrook's entry yesterday entitled "We all aspired to be "British" once", I couldn't help but reflect sadly on that ideal as I walked through the snow-covered streets of my hometown of Winterpeg.

Five years after I last visited, the city has descended into an abyss "where crime is increasingly a problem, and where the streets are ruled by guns, gangs and thugs," to quote the Parliamentary secretary to a Manitoba MP. I've been shocked to read of the terrible violence every day in the newspapers since I've been here. The future looks bleak, and the past no longer seems to hold any value unless it's able to bring in money. Kitschy attempts to recreate turn-of-the-century stations are built to promote gambling while a real architectural treasure like the Hotel Fort Garry can hardly be seen anymore, surrounded as it is by new souless highrises. I noticed with deep regret that the Canadian red ensign that once flew alongside the current flag and the provincial flag at the cenotaph has now been replaced by another Manitoban flag. I suppose the powers-that-be feel that, what the hell, it's so much easier to replace the national flag under which so many died fighting aggression in two world wars and Korea with a cheaper and similar-looking provincial one that few would notice as they hurried by rather than go through the inconvenience of having to go out and find the appropriate flag. This view that convenience must triumph over any outdated sense of duty and respect is further strengthened in my mind by the decision to not even bother to continue flying the RCAF flag at the nearby memorial. Lest we forget, indeed.

So it is refreshing at least to have come across this mural on Main Street that serves to remind us of the 1919 General Strike, while indirectly making a reference to the impetus that drove the men to awaken the consciousness of workers the world over for that brief moment; that WE as Britons shall never be slaves. Proud of our heritage and birthright and secure in our identity.

And as the weather begins to warm, the snow sculpture of the Vimy Monument at the Legislative building beside Queen Vic's statue with all those little snow crosses that try to stir us to remember the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge slowly begins to melt...