By Lloyd Mackey

AS I write, it is the afternoon of November 11. This morning, along with about 30,000 others -- including Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall -- I found myself at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

Note was taken, along the way, that this memorial was dedicated some 70 years ago by Charles' grandfather, King George VI. In its present form, it remembers the fallen of World Wars I and II and the Korean conflict of the early '50s. And the tomb of Canada's Unknown Soldier has been ensconced in the Ottawa Memorial's shadow since 2000. It was moved there from Vimy Ridge in France, his former resting place after he fell in World War I. It was on that tomb, following this morning's ceremony, that hundreds of attenders, including yours truly, deposited the poppies they had worn during Veteran's Week.

There has been a fair amount of reporting on the resurgence of interest in Remembrance Day in recent years, after being in decline for some years. That interest could be traced to the 133 lives which have been lost in Afghanistan. And it was symbolized in the fact that the Silver Cross Mother, this year, was Della Marie Morley, whose son, Cpl. Keith Morley, was killed in Afghanistan in 2006.

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One of the wars that involved Canadians is the Korean conflict, about which we tend to hear less.

And its recall takes me briefly to a place about 300 metres northwest of the Memorial, to the Senate chamber.

In recent days, I have taken to occasionally watch the Senate in action, during members' statements time and question period, before darting down the hall to take in the same process in the House of Commons.

Last week, just before the Veterans' Week break, members in both houses were talking about Canadian involvement in various conflicts, from their own particular perspectives.

One such was Yonah Martin, one of the new senators from British Columbia.

Martin is the first person of Korean birth or descent to sit in the upper house. In that context, her words are worth noting:

I owe my very existence to the 26,971 unsung Canadian heroes (who fought in Korea). So does every survivor of the Korean War, including my parents, my father, who was a 17-year-old teen who had to escape for safety in the middle of the night, leaving behind his nine-month pregnant eldest sister and my grandmother, who stayed to take care of her. My mother, (who was) just 12, remembers all too vividly her constant hunger, her fear of losing everything and the kind foreign soldiers who came to help them.

From 1950 to 1953, the bloody civil war tore apart a nation, separating families, flattening cities and killing tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers. (A total of) 516 Canadians made the ultimate sacrifice.

The Korean (conflict) has been called the "forgotten war" (because) when the soldiers returned, Canada did not give them the hero's welcome they deserved. But they are heroes to me and to all people of Korean descent around the world.

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The atmosphere in the Senate chamber is much quieter and more demure than in the "other place" where the House of Commons meets.

It is undergoing transition, brought on in part by the new level of energy engendered by the decision to appoint senators to fill vacancies, rather than wait until elections to the upper house become the order of the day.

Martin is one of those contributing to that energy.

So does Carolyn Stewart Olsen, who had an interesting statement, in this case, about the H1N1 immunization program.

Stewart Olsen has best been known in recent years as a communication advisor to both Preston Manning and Stephen Harper.

Less recognized is her 20-year nursing career. That included 10 years as an emergency room nurse in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. Following that, she was, successively, ambulatory care head nurse at Grace Hospital in Ottawa, then nursing manager with similar responsibilities at Carleton Place Hospital west of the capital.

It was out of that experience that she had some thoughts about the immunization program, which had been under heavy opposition fire in the Commons.

Noted Stewart Olsen:

As a former health care worker, I found myself critiquing the plans as the program got started, (thinking) "I certainly know how to do it better." But then I realized how those on the front lines and those waiting for shots must feel when politicians questioned everything . . . I would have been devastated, confused and upset (not knowing) who to trust. . . .

The public needs to know we trust our public health officials . . .

The vaccine issues is, of course, a different type of battle than those fought in foreign cities or deserts.

And the criticism comes, not only from those who feel that the program is being incompetently handled but from some who believe that it is being imposed on us by the drug companies or even the World Health Organization.

I will leave that particular dispute to others, having already, as indicated last week, taken the step of getting immunized, not only for H1N1 but for the seasonal flu. If it was hurtful or unnecessary, I guess I will find out in due course. But, being risk averse, it seemed the right thing to do, even for one who generally leaves these things to Providence.

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Lloyd Mackey is a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and author of Stephen Harper: The Case for Collaborative Governance (ECW Press, 2006), More Faithful Than We Think: Stories and Insights on Canadian Leaders Doing Politics Christianly (BayRidge Books, 2005) and Like Father, Like Son: Ernest Manning and Preston Manning (ECW Press, 1997). Lloyd can be reached at lmackey@canadianchristianity.com.

November 12/2009