"Thank you, MCpl Timothy Wilson
Ordinary Canadians join our armed forces to protect other ordinary Canadians. They travel to the other side of the world, at great risk to their own lives, so that our travels to school, work and the grocery store are peaceful. When they are successful in protecting our peace, we forget that we need their protection.
Today, Master Corporal Timothy Wilson, of Grande Prairie, Alberta died of injuries sustained in a vehicle rollover in Afghanistan, on March 2, as part of the Canadian Forces mission supporting the democratically elected government in that country. Corporal Paul Davis of Bridgewater, N.S. passed away shortly after the accident. The Canadian Forces are fighting for peace, and fighting against terrorists associated with those who have threatened Canada and who killed Canadians in attacks on North America, on September 11, 2001.
At 10:20 pm, on March 2, I was comfortably in my "routine" of reading a magazine, on the couch, in my quiet home just outside of Dawson Creek, British Columbia. According to the Department of National Defence, at that point in time, on the other side of the planet, a young man, about my age, who also comes from my Peace River Country was on a "routine" patrol in Kandahar. In the silent seconds while I was reading in my living room, one Canadian soldier was killed, another fatally injured in the service of their country. My country. Five other young men of Bravo Company from the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry were also injured.
And I continued reading, on the couch, blissfully unaware of the sacrifice that had been made to preserve my peaceful life in the Peace Country of northwest Alberta and northeast British Columbia.
Today, though, I know.
I know that peace is bought at a price, paid by those willing to stand up for it, by those who fully understand its cost. I know that it is far too easy to forget that this peace I enjoy was bought at a price, paid by my great grandfather, and his generation, by my grandfather and his generation, and, indeed, by the brave among my generation.
And, today, I remember. "