Editorial Rebuttal

I read this editorial this morning in the Mount Allison University student newspaper and felt compelled to write a rebuttal: http://www.argosy.ca/view.php?aid=41958

my rebuttal is as such:

"I came across the editorial on Project Hero and felt that I should address it. I first want to say that I know Kevin Reed personally and know his intentions for Project Hero to be completely honourable, which I think that the writer recognizes also when he states that the project is “commendable for providing a free education to children who have lost a parent”. While I think that the writer is addressing a valid issue of ‘why not scholarships for other children of parents that have died in service to country or community?’, I think that he has drawn an unfortunate conclusion that Project Hero represents a “dangerous trend in global affairs” and “more than being a worrying sign of the times, “Project Hero” is exemplary of precisely the kind of thinking that is informing these military conflicts”. These conclusions I must dispute. Project Hero is not by design or accident representative of what is wrong with this world, to paraphrase the author. Project Hero is one Canadian’s personal mission to ensure that the children of soldiers, sailors and airmen/women killed in combat are not disadvantaged to a greater extent than other Canadians by their parent’s sacrifice in the service of Canada. Perhaps the title “Hero” is too broad a blanket to cover every military person killed in combat, however, to not accord the title to the ones who unambiguously deserve it is a much greater disservice than to give cover to the few who don’t. At the end of the day let’s remember that Project Hero is an ambitious goal conceived by a university chancellor and furthered by a businessperson to ensure that the children of service personnel killed in combat are not disadvantaged by not only losing a parent but also financial hardship. Allan Rock, former cabinet minister, former ambassador to the U.N., and current president of the University of Ottawa, illustrates the need for a Project Hero, he has stated publicly that if his father, a WWII vet, a peacekeeper in the Middle East, and member of the Canadian Forces for 26 years had been killed in service, he would not have been able to afford to go to university. Would Canada not have been disadvantaged by the loss of Rock’s talents on the national and international stage? I hope that the writer can now see that Project Hero is neither jingoism nor an unfair advantage for the children of service personnel killed in combat; but the rectification of a long-time wrong."

I hope that they publish my rebuttal because I hate the idea that such a worthy initiative can somehow be turned into a symbol for what is wrong in the world.