DOES NEWS COVERAGE GIVE THE DISSENSION IN QUEBEC MORE RELEVANCY THAN ACTUALLY EXISTS?

[joylene butler]

"Canadian soldier found dead on an unspecified base today" the news reported from Kandahar. As the mother of a master corporal scheduled to be deployed in September, I'm guessing it doesn't matter to Mrs. Downey where her son died. Her heart is broken. Her child is gone. She knows he joined because he had a dream, a dream many of us do not & probably will never understand. Cpl.Brendan Anthony Downey volunteered because he wanted to serve his country, he wanted an adventure, he wanted to help. It doesn't matter. He died an honourable death, & as a Nation we owe him our respect & we owe his family our deepest sympathy.

My heart ached to see protesters spitting on parading soldiers in Montreal this weekend. They yelled "child murderers" in French & raised their arms in defiance. I changed the channel. Part of me wanted to document the proceedings, while another part of me couldn't bare to see such dissension. And while I could spend another 2000 words explaining why this feels so wrong, I'm of the age where such effort seems redundant. People will act & think as they want regardless of my convictions. And tho I am saddened by such verbal attacks, I respect their right to protest. I am Canadian, a byproduct of all aspects of my Canadianism. The small group of protesters were a faction of the city's population & by no means representative of the average Quebecer.

[Sue Dawson]

And just think I am (?) planning a trip to Canada in 2009. As the mother of a career US Coast Guard son, I cannot imagine that mother's pain. My son spent several months in the Middle East, but he came home safely.

[joylene butler]

You'll love Canada, Sue. The people are gracious and hospitable. The bad that sometimes happens is no reflection on the general population. I've found that to be true in any of the Americas. Thanks for commenting.

[Sandra Ruttan]

Journalists are conditioned, both subtly and blatantly, to sensationalize stories and focus on the negative. Do you remember that Anne Murray song, "A Little Good News Today"? It could apply anywhere - the point being 99% of what gets reported is the bad stuff.

Since I didn't see the coverage, I'm not sure if this type of protesting is limited to Montreal, or if the media tried to spin it as a "Quebec" issue. I don't think it is. There are people all over the country who are opposed to the mission in Afghanistan - some just express it differently. It's funny to me that nobody picks up on the dissent and dislike of the federal government that's prevalent in the territories, but certainly if the Yukon had a larger population we'd all know about it.

I actually think the media is largely responsible for the separatist movement in Quebec, because it spins stories in an unbalanced fashion and misrepresents the truth to people on both sides of the equation. Separate out the location of this protest, and I'm appalled at the behaviour of the protesters and hope they were charged. Protest is one thing, but spitting on soldiers is another. I support the mission in Afghanistan. I also agreed with our decision to stay out of Iraq. I'm not blatantly pro-war, or a pacifist. I believe each situation must be evaluated, and we went to Afghanistan for a reason, and even if I disagreed it would not justify physically assaulting soldiers.

If 9/11 had resulted in planes crashing in Toronto and there had been casualties on our own soil, I think people would see it differently. I'm never happy to think that someone has to take up arms in order to protect their country, but when it is necessary I'm grateful that there are those people who are willing to risk their life, and whether you agree with the war or not, these soldiers are still people. They deserve to be treated with respect.

[joylene butler]

I remember back in the late 60's early 70' we (SFU students) marched at the Peace Arch and no Canadian cameras were there. At least none that I saw. As for agreeing or disagreeing with the war in The Ghan, I'm too emotionally connected to lean one way or the other. I want to believe as our son does that we're making a difference. My husband is strongly opposed. The news... well, that's a whole different story.