Remembrance Day for me is about remembering the horrors of war, suffered by both combatants and civilians. It’s also a time to reflect on the freedoms that were secured for us in those times of strife. As many Canadians do, given a total of 1.8 million Canadian soldiers served in the two world wars, I have a personal connection to them in my family tree. This connection is part of why I find myself running for office in this election.

My great grandfather served in Canada’s military in the first World War. I never had the opportunity to know him, unfortunatley, he died shortly before I was born. I’m told he would never talk about his experiences after he came back and, given he served as a medic in horrific battles such as Passchendaele, who could blame him. Even though I’m generally a pacifist, I was proud to know he was willing to put himself in harm’s way to help others, and he was decorated for his bravery.

My grandfather was in Canada’s navy in the second world war, serving on one of Canada’s two aircraft carriers. He and I shared many years and many good times together before he passed away. Like my great grandfather he didn’t like to talk about his experiences very often, but every now and then he would. I was always thankful for these times because war is something hard for a pacifist to understand, and someone who doesn’t understand something is not in a good position to pass judgement on it.

I think it’s possible to hate war, yet still honour those who sacrifice themselves so we can be free. That was definitely the role my grandfather found himself in, in World War II. With the horrors of the first world war still fresh in their minds, these were not lads galavanting off on what they thought would be a grande adventure full of romance and bravery: these were people knowing they were going into the meatgrinder for those they loved back at home.

Hearing stories such as my grandfather having a fellow serviceman be struck by a bullet and fall down a set of stairs only to land on top on my grandpa really brought things to life for me. Even as a kid, these stories were more frightening than “cool’, and they brought to life the dangers he experienced on my behalf in addition to being a chilling reminder that my grandfather was lucky to make it back at all. Hearing these stories as a child, Knowing that they went through these horrors so that we could be free, I was filled with an undying belief that we should do all we can to make the most of the freedom we have.

As I matured, I never lost that belief that things can be better, or the desire to make it happen. But more than anything, I never forgot that my grandfather and so many others risked and sacrificed and, in many cases, died so that we could be free and that the best way we could honour them was by making the most of that freedom.

Whenever I see an abuse of democracy, I feel it’s disrespectful to our veterans who gave so much. What honours veterans more, a park or an arena in their name, or taking the freedom they secured for us and making our democracy all it can be? For me, there’s no question what my grandfather wanted, and I feel in some small way by getting involved in politics I am honouring his memory.

Some claim democracy isn’t efficient enough, but it’s important to understand that it never was meant to be; it was meant to be just. The democratic process isn’t the most efficient, nor should it be, but it is the fairest to the largest number, the largest percentage of the time. I think anything we can do as citizens that works towards making our community, and our nation, more democratic honours the Canadians who served this country more profoundly than anything else ever could.