Ontario-born WWI vet not yet assured state funeral
Parliament unanimously passed a motion Tuesday calling for a state funeral for Canada's last World War I veteran, but there are still questions about whether a World War I veteran who spent most of his life in the United States should qualify.
The funeral will honourPercy Wilson, 105,or Lloyd Clemettor John Babcock, both 106. They are the only three remaining among 619,636 Canadians who served between 1914 and 1918.
But not everyone is sure Babcock should get the chance.
' I don't think we should be looking at these matters in other than the broadest and most fundamental way, which was: who was it that was out there fighting when we needed them the most?" -NDP leader Jack Layton
Wilson and Clemett both live in Canada, but Babcock, although born near Kingston, has lived in the United States since 1924.
For that reason, Rudyard Giffiths, executive directorof a group that petitioned for the funeral,said he's not so sure Babcock should get the proposed honour even if he survives the longest.
"I'm all in favour of breaking with tradition, but I think we need to be a little bit careful about the degree to which a state funeral should really should only be given to a Canadian citizen," said Griffiths, who is with theDominion Institute, a group that promotes Canadian history. The institutecollected around 90,000 names in on a petition favour of the state funeral.
Legion in favour of honouring Babcock
Babcock may have left Canada long ago, but he was born in the rural community of Sydenham near Kingston and fought for Canada in World War I.
Members of the community's branch of the Royal Canadian Legion think that makes him count as one of Canada's own, including president John Pickernell.
"I think he should be honoured because he served us in the Great War," Pickernell said. "He deserves some recognition."
Prior to the vote in Parliament, NDP Leader Jack Layton, who brought forward the motion, said the question of who qualifies is something thathe's sure canbe worked out.
But he agreed fundamentally with Pickernell.
"I don't think we should be looking at these matters in other than the broadest and most fundamental way," Layton said, "which was: 'who was it that was out there fighting when we needed them the most?'"