To All Candians, including the editor
As a proud maritimer and former resident of New Brunswick I was one of thousands of people to tue in to the funeral in bathurst on January 16th. CTV Newsnet was so kind as to televise this service nationally so that even friends far from home could grieve and say goodbye to seven young boys taken from us so soon, and with so much life left to live.
It was a touching service and heartfelt thanks was given to the media and to several politicians for doing absolutely nothing of importance to help anyone involved. Very few of the words said had anything to do with the boys, in fact most of it was about corporate sponsors an the politicians who wanted so much to gain a few more votes because they were there during this tragedy. Cut to commercial-buy the jewelry, buy the car insurance, buy the car. Back to the news update, the stock market is failing, US politics havent changed. Back to the funeral for more words that do nothing but remind us how commercial our lives have actually become.
Also included in the services were a letter from the governor general, statements from the mayors, and a letter from the pope. With all these political messages and thanks to the corporate sponsors there was little room left for actual grieving or even words about the boys. In fact 40 minutes into the funeral we still hadnt seen any sign of a minister or any other religious figure.
It would seem that we have become pretty desperate when a tragedy such as this, seven underage boys lost in one small town, is seen as an opportunity for advertisement and political agendas and I am not naive enough to think that this letter will make any difference. It needs to be said though, that some things are better left private, and that it would not have killed corporate Canada to have allowed these boys to say good-bye to thier friends and family with a little dignity, peace, and sobriety.
Elaine King
By Elaine King
