Ottawa, April 27 (UP) –
Canadian voters decide today whether to release their government from its pledge not to conscript men for military service overseas.
The Dominion’s 6,588,000 voters were voting on this question:
Are you in favor of releasing the government from any obligations arising out of any past commitments restricting the methods of raising men for military service?
Political surveys indicate an overwhelming affirmative vote.
Canada already has conscription, but for home service only. Service for duty abroad is voluntary.
Nearly 450,000 men have enlisted in the Dominion’s Army, Navy and Air Force for duty anywhere in the world and more recruits have been enrolling steadily.
There are about 28,000 volunteers in the Navy and 110,000 in the Air Force.
Quebec on the other hand voted no, with 72.9% not in favor.
I once was told that Quebec tried to surrender on behalf of Canada after France capitulated, is that just anti-Quebec mumbojumbo statement or is this true?
When I was growing up in Rural Northern BC we had a large community of retired military personnel with a fair number being French Canadian and as kids we always wanted to hear war stories and never understood why veterans rarely talked about their service during WW2 and other conflicts until I got much older. With that being said many of the French Canadian veterans I talked to as I got older and asked more serious questions left Quebec to go to other provinces to enlist as many Quebecers felt it was an English war and many viewed those that enlisted in the Canadian military as traitors to Quebec.
Many of the French Canadian veterans I talked to said that after the war they briefly went back home to Quebec and while many were treated as heroes there was still an undercurrent of them feeling like they betrayed Quebec from both politicians and the civilian population their only real solace were other veterans and other military service members. Hundreds if not thousands of them moved west and made lives for themselves away from everything they new and loved just for a chance to live normally and not feel unwelcome.