Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition and the Conservative Party of Canada, released the following statement on Korean War Veterans Day:
“On June 25, 1950, the line that divided freedom and tyranny on the Korean peninsula became battle lines as communist forces from the North invaded into the South. Hearing the cries of a people desiring to preserve their nascent nation, Canadians from far and wide travelled, not to defend the borders of their own country, but the liberty of a people they had never met.
“For three years, they fought in often brutal conditions, paying dearly for every hill they reclaimed. Through freezing winters and across unforgiving highlands, Canadian soldiers showed the same tenacity, bravery and courage of earlier generations, whether at Kapyong, Hill 355 or beyond.
“Seventy-three years ago today, an armistice finally silenced the guns. The cost was staggering: a peninsula left in ruins, millions of Koreans dead on both sides, and the 516 Canadians who never came home. Through their sacrifice, South Korea today stands free and prosperous: a living testament to what those brave Canadians fought for.
“On Korean War Veterans Day, we honour those who returned home carrying the memories and burdens of war, and we remember the courage of those whose sacrifice was immortalized in the poem written by one of our fallen:
‘There is blood on the hills of Korea / It’s the gift of the freedom they love / May their names live in glory forever / And their souls rest in Heaven above.’
“Lest we forget.”