Remembrance and heroism

Waterloo professor on why we must be prepared to support international law - University Relations - Each year in Canada, November 11 is marked as Remembrance Day. Canadians come together on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as that is the day and time when the armistice was signed to end the First World War. We acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of those who served their country and acknowledge our responsibility to work for the peace they fought hard to achieve. Not all who serve are acknowledged as a hero, so this day is an opportunity to do so. Yet here in 2022, there is a steady drumbeat of war, echoing in the daily news with reports from the war in Ukraine and ominous discussions of the potential use of nuclear weapons. This Remembrance Day we must reflect on the importance of supporting the Ukrainian war effort against the illegal invasion by Russia, says Dr. Veronica Kitchen, a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo. "War is bad, but war is sometimes necessary," she says.