Ottawa

Imagine a world without Gangnam Style

Steven Blaney on the significance of our military history

Speaking with Radio-Canada—near the end of the video here—Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney demonstrates how to explain the importance of World War II Canada’s military history to kids these days.

“We talk about Gangnam Style. There’d be no Gangnam Style if there hadn’t been sacrifices on the part of Canadians [and] members of the United Nations who united behind a resolution to repel communism.”

Perhaps this will form the basis of a chapter in the study of Canadian history that the Heritage Committee is preparing.

Update 12:18pm. Though the occasion was to mark the Battle of the Atlantic, it seems possibly (likely?) that Mr. Blaney wasn’t referring to World War II. Maybe he was referring to the Korean War. Absent the full context of the comment, it is open to interpretation.

Update 1:51pm. Mr. Blaney’s press secretary tweets.

Thanks to the sacrifices of Cdn #Vets, S.Korea is now economically strong & democratic. Clearly it’s also a cultural superpower

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