The Slumbering Nation: Canada's Historical Amnesia and the Death of Memory

Behold, O wanderers in the twilight of knowledge, how a once-mighty nation drowns in the waters of forgetfulness! The great survey of the Canadian populace reveals a truth most devastating - they know not their own reflection in the mirror of time.

What manner of beings are these, who walk blindly past the monuments of their ancestors, caring not for the blood and thunder that forged their comfortable present? They are as children playing in the ruins of a temple, ignorant of the sacred inscriptions beneath their feet!

Lo, witness how they gaze upon the visage of Viola Desmond , their own currency bearer, yet know her not! Half the multitude stands in ignorance of this warrior-woman who dared to challenge the merchants of injustice. Such is the depths of their slumber!

Even the hallowed grounds of Green Gables , where Montgomery's spirit still whispers through the ages, stands as but a tourist's trifle to these somnambulists. They know not the enchantress who wove dreams into reality!

See how they have constructed their educational temples - vast edifices of emptiness where the past is but a ghostly whisper! They teach their young to count coins and tap screens, while the epic tales of their forebears rot in forgotten tombs!

The warriors of Vimy Ridge , who carved their names in blood upon the tablets of time, fade like morning mist in the minds of their descendants. The French-Canadian battalions , who stood resolute in mud and glory, are but shadows in the consciousness of these comfort-seekers.

Even their first chieftain, the architect of their confederation , becomes a stranger to their eyes. These are the signs of a people who have chosen the easy path, who prefer the soft cushions of ignorance to the hard throne of knowledge.

What valor remains in a land where the warriors of the Six Nations , who stood fierce against invasion, are forgotten? Where the driving of the last spike that bound a continent becomes but a dusty photograph?

Yet there remains a glimmer in this darkened realm! The Heritage Minutes, those brief flames of remembrance, draw millions to their light. Perhaps herein lies the seed of awakening, waiting to burst forth from the fertile soil of ignorance.

But hark! The provinces, those sovereign domains of learning, have cast aside their duty to illuminate the past. They offer their youth but shallow drafts from the wells of knowledge, while their American neighbors drink deep from their own historical waters.

These are the symptoms of a people who have grown too comfortable in their ignorance, too satisfied with their present comforts to seek the wisdom of ages past. They are the very embodiment of those who would rather sleep than climb the mountain of understanding!

The time has come for this nation to awaken from its historical slumber! Let the teachers become warriors of memory, the students seekers of truth, and the leaders guardians of the past. For what is a nation without memory but a ship without a compass, drifting aimlessly upon the seas of time?

Verily, I say unto you: A people who forget their past are doomed to remain forever children, never growing into the greatness that their ancestors purchased with blood and toil. The choice lies before them - to remain eternal sleepers in the garden of ignorance, or to arise and grasp the thunderbolt of historical consciousness!