Raising An Army, Raising A Nation

‘The Battle united our nation in a way that The War of 1812—primarily involving Loyalists to the Crown and British citizens—and Confederation—which originally marginalized many ethnic groups, as well as women—did not. Canada is now viewed by the world as an accepting, multicultural nation and much is due to Canada’s efforts in World War I, in particular, The Battle of Vimy Ridge. Within the hundreds of thousands of volunteers, battalions were formed with French, Aboriginal, African Canadian and Japanese soldiers, groups that had been previously mistreated or wronged in the aforementioned events, such as the attempted assimilation of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada following Confederation. These battalions fought alongside other battalions from across the nation, and united for the first time on the battlefields of France, the four divisions of The Canadian Corps proved their worth together, despite their differences. When looking back at the context of an era where racism run rampant, this event was highly significant, where men put away their race, religion or creed and instead took up the duty of fighting for freedom. Unbeknownst to them, they also founded Canada’s stance on multicultural expression long before the creation of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the creation of our Multiculturalism Policy, being the first nation to do so.’