Stephen Harper Speaks At Vimy Ridge

[cf80to01]

How can anyone view this as anything but a proud moment for Canada? The Canadian soldiers did what the French could not, what the British could not (I forget the exact numbers but, combined, I believe they lost some 160,000 men trying to take the ridge) with losses of around 4,000. Sir Arthur Currie does NOT get the recognition he deserves.

[324wilson]

Very nice. I love my Canada. Do you have the Queen giving her speach. She speaks wonderful french...

God bless my Canada...

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!!!

[ashlar236]

This is a comment that pisses me off about Canada, USA is so patriotic and respected, I think its due that we in Canada are a little more patriotic about our accomplishments. A little more Go Canada Go and flag waving come on people!!!

[tinderhorn]

I think it's problematic that remembrance day has gone from being an anti-war day to being a day that basically celebrates how good Canada was at killing people from other countries. This whole speech about the amazing victory at Vimy Ridge makes me ill.

[ashlar236]

What the hell are you talking about 'anti-war'. Rememberance day is about thanking those brave ordinary Canadians like my grandpa who served in the Canadian air force for your basic feedoms that the enemy was tring to take away. Lucky for you, we were better at killing than they were. Our troops did things at Vimy nobody else could and that makes ME proud to be a Canadian. Why do you think Vimy was amazing?

[hebber1961]

not a fan of most politicians but i'm glad it was Harper doing this & not Cretien or some other liberal asshole. Harper actual means what he's saying about Vimy & not just saying what he has to.

[Hopkinator]

Well said.

[luckiiox]

awehh i totally remember being there.. very emotional ceremony :(

[shutterflie]

It was really overwhelming for me. Were you one of the students that went?

I cried a LOT that day.

[skiguru]

Vimy is a proud place for Canada - I went there last year and it was an amazing and moving place

[rje888]

A great and moving speech

[JvK1791]

I was there!!

[pittsky]

best PM in 20 years.

[raynus1]

Agreed. Probably more like 40.

[raynus1]

Agreed. Probably in 40.

[azu111]

treaudu... pearson.. lol? they were much better imo

[SplattoMan]

If you can't even spell his name I doubt you can name a single policy of his.

[azu111]

trudeau stopped the FLQ?

[SplattoMan]

alright, you pass :)

But he also nearly ruined the country

[azu111]

How so

[EESASTORM]

Trudeau?

He DECIMATED this country!

[QuikSand9]

Trudeau was a Tyrant

[NightRushX]

He lead a Rockstar life. However, his "just society" ended up getting Canada 33 billion dollars in debt. Oh well~

[baird007]

Harper gave an excellent speech. Finally, we have a PM with some competence.

[pittsky]

I agree

[zachfitzz]

its a shame we dont have a real leader to make a speech honouring our brave soldiers. instead, we have howdy doody harper; a man who would rather order our soldiers to their deaths, instead of fighting himself. a coward, and an enemy of freedom, just like Chretien. this speech should have been made by Romeo Dallaire, a man of honour, who has suffered and deserves the spotlight. Harpers only goal in this speech is political progaganda.

[candace2224]

Haha, I was there!

=]

It was one of the most amazing experiences i've had in my life.

I was one of the canadian youth who went, I'm from Newfoundland.

[ridhamk]

Did you meet with the Queen???

[dollpapier]

i went too!!!!

it was so much fun. i've never been prouder to be Canadadian than when i was there!!

everything was awesome. even waiting to go into youth area. we did the wave and it was huge.

[shredstarXstevens]

ah i went to!

where are you from?

i went with my high school from Arva, Ontario [outside london, ont]

amazing ceremony!

[324wilson]

hey, do you have the video when Queen was speaking??? If you do pl. post it. Thank you.

[SplattoMan]

I will see if I can get it

[ridhamk]

THanks

[SplattoMan]

Hey, no need to insult me! ;)

[SplattoMan]

Really? Harper jails people who complain about excess immigration? You just did...when do you reckon he'll be locking you up? Please come back when you have substantial evidence of this and not until then, as my time is too important to waste on such paranoid fantasies.

[Northgrant]

Best PM since Borden!

[Purluc]

Someday I hope so very much to see the Vimy Ridge monument in person. Great speech Mr. Harper.

[Mallard42]

The best Prime Minister we have had in my memory.

[JohnMichaels20]

i don't get why canadians let french be an 'official" language in a country where 70+ percent of the people speak ENGLISH.

[bougabouga]

that sir , is something that you can only understand if you aer canadian. The french canadians fought for there rights so badly.

[PhilipJFry72]

Actually, the Liberals pandered to Quebec for decades in order to get votes. They fed into the insecurities of the Quebecois, and allowed the rest of Canada to be under-represented in the House of Commons in order to artificially inflate the number of seats in Quebec.

I am not saying that english should be the only official language, but what I am saying is that the current application of official languages is only causing ALOT of resentment.

[FringeNorth]

You should take into acount that the Quebecois are not the only French speaking nation in Canada. Take the Acadians for example. They've had it rough, and i don't think anyone has EVER panderd to Acadians

[Bracus72]

And I suppose you never heard about what the French in the English provinces, and even in Quebec, had to go through because our government, and all the business owners, were English speaking, and would even ridicule the last names of the French citizens, like my grandfather, who had to change his name to make it more pronouncable to the English so they would hire him.

[tyguy12]

It would have been so much easier if we just told the French to move back to France or else accept they lost the war and become Canadian. It would have stopped all the whining, French nationalist cry babies that Canada has had to put up with over the past 240+ years. Ah well, hindsight is 20/20

[jaybon666]

it's really a beautiful and great looking memorial, and not a victory memorial, but rather one of loss. When Hitler took over France in 1940, he took a special trip to Vimy Ridge, and saw it as a thing of beauty.

[southafricandominion]

So glad he referred to the Canadian Red Ensign

[274812]

A real leader at last. Harper has to be the greatest Prime Minister since...well...Forever! Finally I can hold my head high again and say I am proud to be Canadian!

[checkurfacts]

Wish we had a Harper. Stuck with a Bush. Proud of my Canadian heritage, and proud to have such a great neighbor. The book about this battle is one of the finest I have ever read. It took courage for Canadian generals not to let thier troops be used as pawns by the Commonwealth. Saved Vimy Ridge and forged Canadian history.

[FringeNorth]

you relise that while the generals were canadian, we used commonweath forces on the ground right? Aborigionals, newfoundlanders (not yet Canadians) and Aussies where put in the front. Not trying to bash vimmy, but i think it would be disrespectful to those people to not agnolledge they get shafted.

[SplattoMan]

Yes, there were a number of these groups, but it's ludicrous to suggest as you have that the overwhelming majority of the marines were not Canadian.

[FringeNorth]

i never said that they were, i'm saying they died in higher proportions. thats fact

[SplattoMan]

Could be, I don't know. I don't see how it's relevant or remotely beneficial to start listing the race, age, sex, language, political beliefs, religion, etc. of all the troops who participated in this great siege anyway.

[FringeNorth]

not relevant? how about that it's essential to establishing a canadian idenity, yet we don't agknowledge the contribution and sacrafices of other nations. Ones who where even exploited by us. This isn't some fairy tale, it's history, and has to be aproached objectively. This speach is an apeal to peoples nationalism.

[SplattoMan]

Do you also advocate keeping track of how many gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals served on the front lines? Again, this information and all that above is completely irrelevant.

Canada is slowly coming to terms with it's many injustices in the past. Stephen Harper apologized for the Chinese Head Tax after so many governments wouldn't. The Quebecois have been finally recognized as a nation in the same context as are the natives and acadians. more will be done, by Harper and others after him.

[tyguy12]

I am on track with a lot of what you are saying.

Hey, I wonder how many dirty blonde men between the ages of 23-23 died at Vimy? This whole identity politics is so 1990s for me. I'm done with its stupidity and hypocrisy.

[baird007]

FringeNorth, the sacrifices of other nations have been given notice and with respect. I would like to see proof that we have exploited other nations because that's quite an accusation. Vimy Ridge was the birth of Canada's independence. Why do you have a problem with nationalism? Do you think there's something wrong in loving one's country?

[ummcereal]

...proud to be a Canadian! and proud to have Harper as a leader; he's a true leader!

[chuck560]

The guy is mint, pure class a true leader. Finally someone that gets things DONE.

[ericaviolet]

I wish they didn't dub over the French with English. Subtitles sure, but being bilingual, it makes it hard and annoying to listen to. This is a bilingual country.

[Loonieburger]

I agree completely - especially when the translators are worse than you are. That said, this is not even close to a bilingual country, no matter how much liberals would like you to believe that.

[littledrugaddict]

i went there! :]

wootwoot

stephen harper is an amazing prime minister!

[DanTehSamuraiMan]

Stephen Harper is my favorite Prime Minister of all time. He knows how to speak publicly quite well, and is very smart. He also knows his stuff about hockey too, and being Canadian, that makes me like him more. I doubt we'll see as good of a Prime Minister again. I just hope he gets re-elected.

[ericaviolet]

HAha

[Coldchaos]

Stephen Harper has done an amazing job representing Canada in a professional and honest way. The media just dislikes him because he keeps his ministers and party in sync which leaves little room for new worthy errors that the liberal media such as the CBC feed off of like leaches.

[Mallard42]

A great speech from our best Prime Minister in many years.

[FB1801]

I do agree. Stephen Harper is the best pm since ww2

[rickey1037]

Hah i was there too. sick trip

[johnnytubeaccount]

I wish i was there...but i don't know if i would of been able to hold the tears :P

[Vinderick]

I was there aswell!!

[kelctwin]

It was a good speach I enjoyed it, but the Queen was better. She spoke better french.

[Loonieburger]

Absolutely! The one thing I absolutely can't stand is what passes for French in Canada. To think that the press had the nerve to criticize Preston Manning's French (even when he was reading what someone else had written; they simply thought his accent was poor) when it was no worse than Harper's, Day's, Martin's, Clark's, Mulroney's, Taliban Jack's, Campbell's, Turner's...

Well, I think you get the idea.

[arrpy]

I was there!WOOOOO!!

[FB1801]

Stephen Harper est un très grand premier ministre. J'espère qu'il formera un gouvernement majoritaire prochainement.

[TimpleTapper]

They in the morning of their days,

For Canada's sake lost all but Canada's Praise.

Thank you Prime Minister Harper for honouring those

who fought for our nation at Vimy Ridge.

May GOD Bless you and our may HE Bless our nation.

Thank you for posting this historic video!!!

[SplattoMan]

Glad you like it!

[legseam]

You are probably a loyal Tory. I'm too old and cynical to like any party. For the money Harper spent going to Vimy, he could have covered the funeral costs of some of these dead soldiers. They are complaing.

[SplattoMan]

The $350 million stolen during the the Liberal Sponsorship Scandal could have paid for all the funerals dozens of times over, and don't even get me started on the gun registry boondoggle or the socialist dream of nationwide state-run daycare.

[legseam]

Actually, splattoman, you are lying. Stephen Harper sent those tanks just last fall. I know because a grade 10 student was laughing about it in class. That's a disgrace that a kid in grade 10 would know more about those tanks than Defence Minister O'Connor who paid the Americans to fly them all the way over without ventilation or air conditioning. How much money was wasted? Tanks are useless there anyway!

[SplattoMan]

Oh, oh, this is rich. You get your political information from your grade 10 classmates? Well then, my mistake. If a 15 year old said it, it must be true!

[PhilipJFry72]

Tanks are not useless over there. Honestly, the big, loud, omnipresence of armour scares the hell out of anyone who gets close to them. Trust me. Have you ever been close to one of them when the engine's running? Or a troop(4) of them on the move?

Anyone who says they aren't scared of a tank is lying. They are the cold passionless face of death.

[legseam]

Why would Harper send tanks with no ventilation, let alone air conditioning, into the Afghan desert?

[SplattoMan]

Actually former Prime Minister Paul Martin sent those tanks into the desert. You can thank successive Liberal governments under Trudeau, Turner, Chretien, and Martin for gutting our military and leaving Canadian troops poorly equipped. Stephen Harper is changing this, giving Canada a new sense of respect and pride for our military, and seeing that they have the tools to get the job done.

[tuor1984]

I agree with the above statement, which is a rarity for me.

[johnnytubeaccount]

Tremendous speech, brought a tear to my eye.

[theman1223]

I was there

[stephieek68]

I was also a student from Canada there. That ceremony actually brought tears to my eyes - actually the song I`m Dreaming Of Home really did. I`d really like to go back and relive that day. Yah I expected to be on TV too but I don`t care that I wasn`t, just being there was awesome enough. And to experteel - ashamed of Canada? wtf

[experteel]

I have never been more ashamed of Canada than I have been with Steven Harper at the helm.

[hetman11]

Harper is a doing a tremendous job. I feel the exact opposite way experteel, I have never been prouder to call a man my prime minister. Go Harper!

[montrealman2468]

You mean because of Harper's honesty and hard work? Or, because Harper makes Canadians proud? Or, because he invests in the military rather than piss and shit on it as the Lie-berals always did? Or, because Harper won't be told by third world shit holes or Jacques-ass Chirac what to do?

[PhilipJFry72]

YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT?

Have you ever heard of Chretien?

[tyguy12]

Yeah, his honest leadership is a real shame when compared to a decade plus of Liberal leadership. I personally lost all respect for the Liberal Party when, during the tainted blood scandal, Chretien threatened to kick out any Liberal MP who voted against that absolutely horrible bill. Seeing MPs standing up and crying as they voted broke my heart and made me realize that the Liberal Party is, and always will be, corrupt, power hungry and shameless.

[Loonieburger]

I have never been more impressed with the precociousness of a poster before. Look at you! Able to type, and with such eloquence, at just over 2.5 years of age. Gosh that speaks volumes of your parents' dedication to raising you. Of course Harper being your first PM, you still didn't tell us why you're ashamed. Incidentally, that would be your only grammatical error - you can't be more ashamed when you have no reference point.

[MiltyShatz]

Sorry to anyone who misunderstood, but I meant credit kind of differently. I just didn't put in the right words. I just didn't feel like we were accepted as actually being part of it. Pushed to the side and generally excluded from the entire thing.

[croblesky]

I was one of the students there that day. I think that that was a really beautiful speech.

[bluegrasscanuck]

excellent speech by and excellent prime minister! i am proud of all who took part there. The fiddle player....wow! Go Canada!

[jessica8888]

MiltyShatz, if you lead us in, you must of noticed that there were over 3500 students standing in a field in hot uniforms for hours as well. But we were there representing our fallen soldiers, so we sucked it up. Why don't you try to?

[Valleygirl36]

Excellent couldn'g have been better.

[sparhawkiii]

...... The youth got all the credit? Who gave them credit? You don't feel honoured to have been present at the making of history? Nearly every regiment or descendants of regiments which fought at Vimy were on that parade with bayonets affixed. I don't know what else you want or expect.

[MiltyShatz]

The youth got all the credit.

I was part of the cadet group that lead them all in, and I stood in flight in a hot uniform for 5 hours. Totally unfair the way we were treated.

[CheKo136]

Treated? What are you talking about? You were standing on parade, there is no treatment. The thing i found was stupid was that they barricaded us in this one area and it was like as if we were excluded.

[therealwetninja]

MiltyShatz, could you be more self centered, selfish, and petty!? You were there to honour the many men that fought and died so that you could be in the cadets. How sad are you that you can not see that! We were not there to honour you, so perhaps you should get your head out of your butt and see the sacarfices that all soldiers both past and present do for YOU!

[MiltyShatz]

I know I was there for that reason. I respect the WWI veterans. I never complained about that part. I just feel that we were there too, and we were never truly recognized as actually being there. We were just basically pushed off to the side in an area completely seperated from everyone else and ignored.

I was there to respect the sacrifice WWI veterans did. I'm not after a ton of credit, just a little bit of noting. I just feel grouchy that we were excluded. I didn't mean it like that.

[seaforth62]

exellente cérémonie je suis très content d y avoir participer et de passer a la tv canadienne en tenue d epoque du seaforth a la 2 min 48

[seaforth62]

exellent je suis ravi de passer meme 2 secondes à la tv canadienne a 2min48 .ce fut une excellent cerémonie

[disturbed663]

this is a great speach harper is doing good and michael2b if these ppl didnt fight u wouldnt have the freedom u take forgranted

[hagar900]

I was there in person and the whole ceremony was truly breathtaking. When I was walking to the ceremony with my group while singing Oh Canada and when I was listening to that speech, I have never felt more proud to be Canadian.

[bluegrasscanuck]

go Harper!! go canadian vets!!

[Valleygirl36]

Excellent speech by our Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

[CanadaguyRudey]

Excellent speech. No wishy washy political coorectness. michael2b what up- find another forum for your rant

[thatthatisis]

Harper makes me proud to be a Canadian.

[Valleygirl36]

You bet we now have a Prime Minister that we can be proud of.

[JohnnyH1982]

well said Mr.Harper

[TimpleTapper]

Amen to that - Very well said Prime Minister Harper.

[michael2B]

bring our troops home NOW!

[Grimlocka]

Most of the troops in WW1 are home.

[Plackyu]

I lol'd

[Schleihauf]

lol

[luckiiox]

well its nice to see from a different angle like on t.v as it was different being tere..

[Gorgasim]

Thank you for posting this, I didn't get a chance to catch it on TV. Was truly moving.