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Flags of Remembrance fly in central Alberta A tribute to Canada’s war dead gains national attention
The 116 flags flying along Highway 11 outside of Sylvan Lake are in remembrance of 116,000 Canadian war dead from 1900 to 2014. Photo: Jennifer Blair
By Jennifer Blair af staff
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n the brisk October air of early morning on a dark highway in central Alberta, a quiet group of men and women stood sentinel alongside 116 Canadian flags waving in the breeze. And as the clock struck 8 on Oct. 29 — exactly one week after the tragic shooting of a soldier in our nation’s capital — these sentinels released hundreds of red and white balloons into the sky. It was a fitting tribute to the Canadian soldiers who have lost their lives in service of our country. “If we don’t remember, we forget,” said Al Cameron, executive director of Veterans Voices of Canada, the organization
responsible for the Flags of Remembrance tribute. “We have to remember what these people are sacrificing for us. We have to give them tribute, and we have to remember everything they’re doing.” The 116 flags were raised along Highway 11 outside of Sylvan Lake on Oct. 24 in remembrance of 116,000 Canadian war dead from 1900 to 2014. Cameron called it “sad timing” with the death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Oct. 22. “The recent deaths have really put focus on remembrance and giving tribute,” said Cameron, who had been planning the testimonial for several months. “It’s doing exactly what we wanted it
to do — bringing people together from right across Canada. It’s just amazing to see, and we’re really proud of what’s happening.” Cameron planned the tribute as part of his work with Veterans Voices of Canada, a non-profit organization that travels across the country to interview veterans and document their stories for history and education. “I call them our protectors. I’m meeting some guys and gals who have done some amazing things and who have sacrificed a lot for what we have today,” he said. And the recent deaths of Cpl. Cirillo in Ottawa and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in Quebec reinforce that those sacrifices continue today. “These guys and these women sacri-
fice so much every day,” said Cameron. “They’ve got their lives on the line. They could be in the field fighting, or as we’ve seen now, they could be in our own country standing at a national monument.” The flags will stay up until Nov. 15, when they will be presented to the organizations and individuals who sponsored the tribute. Until then, Cameron hopes that the flags will remind people across the country to remember the sacrifices of Canadian veterans. “When people drive down the road, they can’t miss them,” he said. “These flags are waving away at everyone down the highway, and that’s our veterans waving to us and saying, ‘Here we are. Remember us.’” jennifer.blair@fbcpublishing.com
Experts decry lack of long-term research Research projects tend to be commodity specific and short term By Jennifer Blair af staff
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f you want to know what happens when research doesn’t get done, ask Doug Wray. “Where the hay yields haven’t increased in the last 10 years, the canola, wheat, and barley yields have,” says the cow-calf producer from Irricana. “It’s created a real challenge to keep forages on the landscape in that dynamic where the productivity of the alternatives has gained
so much. It becomes harder and harder to justify.” A decade of depressed cattle prices led to the falloff in forage research — an area that depends on long-term studies. “If you’re looking for quick answers, lots of times in the forage world those answers take a long time,” said Wray, who is also chair of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association. “You plant a pasture to be there for several years — you’re hedging your bets on the next five or 10 years. Whereas when you
plant your cash crop, it’s the next 100 days.” But even annual crop producers need to look years ahead if they hope to continue competing with producers in countries that aren’t spending all their research dollars on ‘quick-fix’ projects, said the new dean of agriculture at the University of Alberta. “When you put a (short) time frame around research, absolutely you will get results — you will get an annual report,” said Stan Blade. “But we live in a biological system, and some of those ques-
tions are not defined by threeyear projects.” A former crop research scientist and longtime head of Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions, Blade said he understands the attraction to specific, short-term projects. “With things like big differences in cultivars and big differences in tillage use, people pay attention to that because they see there’s something they can immediately respond to.”
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