Face to Face

Military medals are bought and sold regularly in Canada and elsewhere and there are no rules against it. Is this practice wrong?   Author John Boileau of Halifax says NO. Author Glenn Wright of Ottawa says YES.   Boileau, a retired army colonel, has authored several books and numerous newspaper and magazine articles on Canadian military history. He is also a frequent radio and TV commentator on military issues. Wright is retired from the federal government where he worked as an archivist and historian with Library and Archives Canada, and the RCMP. He has also authored books on Canada’s wartime service. JOHN BOILEAU NO Many people contend that selling military medals should be illegal. Unfortunately, some who believe this may not thoroughly understand the subject...

The United States dropped two atomic bombs—nicknamed Fat Man and Little Boy—on Japan in August 1945, resulting in the deaths and injury of more than 200,000 people. Was that action justified to bring the war to an end?   Policy analyst John Siebert of Waterloo, Ont., says NO. Author Hugh A. Halliday of Ottawa says YES. Siebert is executive director of Project Ploughshares (www.ploughshares.ca), based in Waterloo, Ont., which conducts policy research on defence and foreign policy. He is also a former diplomat who was posted to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Halliday, a former member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, community college teacher and a curator at the Canadian War Museum, has written, co-authored or compiled numerous articles and books on general Canadian history...

The Battle of the Somme was one of the most horrific battles of the First World War. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost between July and November 1916. Was it worth it?   Author Jonathan Vance says NO. Author Andrew Iarocci says YES. Vance is a professor of history at Western University in London, Ont. He is the author of several articles and books, including Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning and the First World War and Maple Leaf Empire: Canada, Britain and Two World Wars. Iarocci is an assistant professor of history at Western University and author of Shoestring Soldiers: The First Canadian Division, 1914-15 and co-editor of Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment. His current research interests include military transportation and procurement. JONATHAN VANCE NO While Fie...

Should family members of deceased veterans be allowed to wear the military medals of their deceased relative?    Author Glenn Wright of Ottawa says NO. Author John Boileau of Halifax says YES. Wright is retired from the federal government where he worked as an archivist and historian with Library and Archives Canada, and the RCMP. He has also authored books on Canada’s wartime service. Boileau, a retired army colonel, has authored several books and numerous newspaper and magazine articles on Canadian military history. He is also a frequent radio and TV commentator on military issues.   GLENN WRIGHT NO Service medals as well as honours and awards are sometimes worn by family members on Remembrance Day to respect and commemorate recipients of the medal and their ...

Did the Canadian government make the right decision by passing the Military Service Act of 1917?   Author Serge Durflinger of Ottawa says NO. Author J.L. Granatstein of Toronto says YES. Durflinger is a professor of history at the University of Ottawa. His books include Veterans with a Vision: Canada’s War Blinded in Peace and War, and Fighting From Home: The Second World War in Verdun, Quebec. Granatstein has written dozens of books, including Who Killed Canadian Military History? and Canada’s Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace. He is a former director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum.   SERGE DURFLINGER NO Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden blew it. His government’s First World War recruiting policies and practices were inefficient and chaotic, his ill...

Did the Canadian government make the right decision in February 1959 to cancel the Avro Arrow project?   Author and publisher Marc-Andre Valiquette of Montreal says NO. Researcher and writer Russell Isinger of Saskatoon says YES.  Valiquette has written and published the four-book series Destruction of a Dream, The Tragedy of Avro Canada and the CF-105 Arrow. In 1997, Isinger completed his graduate thesis titled The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow Programme: Decisions And Determinants. Both men continue to research and write on this controversial subject.   MARC-ANDRE VALIQUETTE NO  On Feb. 20, 1959, the John Diefenbaker Government announced its decision to cancel the Avro Arrow project. This resulted not only in the loss of a promising aircraft and turbojet engine; it ...