YORKTON - Coming up with a topic of local relevance each week to write an editorial on can be challenging.
But, it is never lost on a newspaper how fortunate we are in Canada to be able to pen an opinion piece each week to foster thought and conversation of important topics in our communities.
Newspapers in many countries do not have such freedom.
In some cases newspapers are gagged by government, in others forced to cease operation all together.
We in Canada still have that freedom.
At no point in a year is that more keenly recognized than during the week leading up to Remembrance Day.
The day is one where we should all be pausing to pay tribute to all those who fought to ensure our freedoms have been preserved.
Had we lost either of the great wars this newspaper might not have the freedom to write this editorial.
That we have the freedoms we do today – to vote for our representatives, to pray to whichever god we chose, as adults love who we want, and so many more – are because of those who took up arms to protect our freedoms from tyranny.
At no point should we glorify war.
We should do all that is possible to avoid the devastation that war brings.
But, at times the cause is too great to ignore and we are fortunate so many chose to take the stand they did for future generations. For many the sacrifice was the ultimate one.
Remembrance Day is about honouring those sacrifices, made largely by a generation we barely know today, but owe so much to.
So this Saturday the Flexihall should be packed as the community gathers to say a solemn thank you.
It should also be a day we remember what war can do to a world.
With the fighting ongoing in Ukraine, a country fighting for its freedoms from an oppressive invader, and the battles in Israel and the Gaza Strip we still have not learned how to live in a peaceful world, the cloud of escalation always looming large.
We as a world need to do better.
We need to find peace, the ultimate way to say thank you to the veterans of the past.
Certainly in writing this a publication such as Yorkton This Week recognizes how dearly we should cherish our freedoms and out peace.
If only we could all find such peace.
