401 "Highway of Heroes" and DVP to be "Route of Heroes"

[urbandreamer]

Time to change the name to "Highway of Morons."

 

[Admiral Beez]

Highway 416 is already the Veteran's Memorial Highway.

That highway salutes veterans, i.e. those that served in war and survived to return to civilian life, not soldiers who died in combat. Until the Highway of Heros idea, we had nothing in Canada beyond war memorials, cenotaphs and the National Military Cemetery to recognize our soldiers that die in service to Canada. That said, I do not support the Route of Heros idea at all - the HOH/401 has it covered.

 

[Admiral Beez]

What happens when the final destination, the Coroner's office, is moved to the new Forensic Services and Coroner’s Complex, just started construction at the south-west section of Wilson and Keele. It is expected to be completed in 2012. Will a short section of roadway to the complex get the new name?

By then we'd better be out of Afghanistan, otherwise every dead soldier brought home will be a beacon against whomever the PM is at that time. Of course there's talk of extending the mission with non-combat roles, but even if they're replacing DND with CIDA guys, as soon as the first one comes home in a bag post-2011 the Canadian public will begin to howl. Rightfully so too, we were in the Second World War for six years, the First World War for four years and Korea for about three years. We've been in Afghanistan for more than seven years now - time to come home.

 

[kEiThZ]

That highway salutes veterans, i.e. those that served in war and survived to return to civilian life, not soldiers who died in combat. Until the Highway of Heros idea, we had nothing in Canada beyond war memorials, cenotaphs and the National Military Cemetery to recognize our soldiers that die in service to Canada. That said, I do not support the Route of Heros idea at all - the HOH/401 has it covered.

Agreed. There's a lot of mixed feels among us serving personnel too about the whole HOH concept. Many of us are simply grateful to get recognition for the CF and are happy that we are moving beyond the dark days of the post-Somalia era when soldiers in uniform often got assaulted, spit on, etc. However, many of us (myself included) are weary of jingoistic nationalism.

That said, I consider the HOH to be a uniquely Canadian and genuinely grassroots idea and for that reason I fully support it. When have we ever seen ordinary Canadians respond so affectionately and patriotically to each other and to the most vulnerable of our citizens (the families of those unfortunate souls being 'honoured' with that ride)? It's an absolutely remarkable thing. Many families have said that they are genuinely grateful for the outpouring of support as they drive that route. And it's been profiled in stories around the world because unlike other countries, we don't hide our war dead (our military leaders have been adamant on this). If it makes the families feel better and helps us bind together why not?

Route of heros though? That's a little too much.

 

[kEiThZ]

Time to change the name to "Highway of Morons."

wow.

 

[adma]

So instead of a poppy, there'd be this inside the King's Highway shield?

 

[cfloryan]

The "Route of Heroes" is superfluous considering we already have the "Highway of Heroes" and it represents a further militarization of this country. BAD IDEA

 

[doady]

Perhaps the DVP should named in remembrance of the children who died in the Canadian residential schools instead. After all, the student death toll in the schools is almost as high the soldier death toll in all the wars combined.

 

[TO City of Light]

Since they all end up in the coroner's office in Toronto, maybe we should push for calling Toronto "Heroville". It has a nice ring.

 

[Fresh Start]

David Miller’s Photo Op of Heroes

Kelly McParland: David Miller’s Photo Op of Heroes
By Kelly McParland June 7, 2010 – 9:14 am
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...vid-millers-photo-op-of-heroes/#ixzz0qCyCp3ZY

"Toronto’s mayor is taking some flack for a belated decision to designate the city’s Don Valley Parkway the “Route of Heroes.â€

David Miller is to make the announcement today at a spot overlooking the highway. According to the Toronto Sun:

Stuart Green, a spokesman for Toronto Mayor David Miller, said the mayor’s office has been working on the project for some time and will make an official announcement Monday at a Bloor Street East parkette overlooking the DVP.

“The veterans and the legions felt strongly that they wanted to honour that final journey that brave soldiers make,†Green said Friday. “The mayor was absolutely on side.â€

But wait a minute. As Sun columnist Joe Warmington points out, there’s already a Highway of Heroes: It’s the route along the 401 that leads from CFB Trenton, where the bodies of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan are brought home, to the coroner’s office near Queen’s Park in Toronto. Canadians spontaneously line the route each time a fallen soldier is returned. It’s not officially organized or directed — it’s just patriotic people showing their respect for the men and women who gave their lives to serve their country.

David Miller is about eight years late in recognizing that. Choosing a name that is similar but slightly different from the Highway of Heroes just confuses the issue: why does the route have to change names once it enters Toronto? Toronto is the city that couldn’t bring itself to allow fire trucks and ambulances to carry decals saying “Support our Troopsâ€, and Miller was among those who wanted them taken off, in case someone got the mistaken impression Toronto actually supported the mission in Afghanistan.

Now, with the mission in its last year, he’s suddenly onside to divert attention away from the original Highway of Heroes, and at a time when the coroner’s office is about to be moved to a new location near the 401, meaning the convoys wouldn’t even travel on the parkway.

But the mayor gets a photo op, and a chance to pretend he’s been with the troops all along. That decal thing … never mind that.

National Post"
---

And people have to question my motives for wanting to see these types of politicians thrown out of office? Seriously?

 

[kettal]

lol wat do u expect from a communist nazi soshalist like millar!!! he is killing the hole citay with these shenanigans!!!!

 

[adma]

Since they all end up in the coroner's office in Toronto, maybe we should push for calling Toronto "Heroville". It has a nice ring.

And our new City Hall can be a knockoff of Cincinnati's Union Terminal, to boot

 

[old boy]

And our new City Hall can be a knockoff of Cincinnati's Union Terminal, to boot

I'm all for it, but only if there's a giant concrete statue of the PM at the intersection of both " Hero highways ". It'd make a great postcard.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Perhaps the DVP should named in remembrance of the children who died in the Canadian residential schools instead. After all, the student death toll in the schools is almost as high the soldier death toll in all the wars combined.

How do you figure that? "All the wars combined" for Canada would be 45,500 dead in the Second World War, 67,000 dead in the First World War, 1,558 dead in the Korean War, 267 dead in the Boer War, and so far 147 dead in Afghanistan. So, omitting those Canadian soldiers killed in Gulf War 1, the Balkans, etc., that's over 114,000 dead Canadian soldiers from "all the wars combined".

Are you honestly saying that over 114,000 children died in the Canadian residential schools? This would represent a massive genocide of a huge proportion of the then size of the Canadian native population. Do you have evidence that 114,000 or more children perished in the residential schools?

 

[nfitz]

To be fair, he said almost as high. You wouldn't need 114,000 for him to be correct. But the highest estimates are in the tens of thousands of deaths ... so while I don't think he is strictly speaking correct ... maybe it still a massive genocide of a huge proportion of the Canadian native population!