Canadians remember — through YouTube

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This article was published 10/11/2009 (6051 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Canada’s war veterans are storming onto YouTube in a government bid to highlight their accomplishments and educate Canada’s youth about Remembrance Day.

Veterans Affairs Canada launched a channel called Canada Remembers on the youtube.com video-sharing site Friday to bring the message of Remem­brance Day to the Internet generation.

Over the weekend, more than 67,000 people flocked to watch the videos and many contributed by uploading their own videos.

"The response has been overwhelm­ing for us," said Heather MacDonald, a spokeswoman for Veteran Affairs. "We had no idea it would take off as it has."

MacDonald said people have been finding the Canada Remembers chan­nel and a new page of the same name on the Facebook social- networking site with little promotion by Veterans Affairs. There are already more than 6,000 different posts from people shar­ing personal video and photos with the world. Even more have contributed to forums, sharing memories of family members who served overseas.

"There are veterans themselves that are posting comments on our Facebook page, such as an Afghanistan veteran or a Bosnian veteran," said MacDonald. "People are talking about their broth­ers and sisters in Afghanistan. They might be talking about their father who served overseas or their grandfather or grandmother who was part of World War two."

She also said one message from Rob­ert Thirsk, a Canadian astronaut cur­rently aboard the International Space Station, was a particular surprise. Over the weekend, Thirsk found the group on his own and recorded a YouTube video from space, sharing his observa­tions about Sir John McCrae’s poem In

Flanders Fields and thanking Canada’s veterans for all they have done.

"It’s an honour to share this solemn moment with you as we remember the men and women of our Canadian Forc­es who have given their lives," says Thirsk in his video. "To all the men and women who are serving our country, I salute you."

Despite the buzz the online initiative has created among the veteran popula­tion, MacDonald believes the channel is also helping to educate youth about why Remembrance Day is important.

"Youth is one of our primary demo­graphics. And the reason we want to get youth involved is because they car­ry the torch of remembrance for future generations," she said. "We know that if we want to engage youth, we need to go to where youth are."

Google Inc., which owns YouTube, says Canadians are the heaviest us­ers of YouTube on the planet. A recent study by Ipsos-Reid found more than eight in 10 Canadians regularly visit the online video storehouse. The web­site sees more than 700 million search­es by Canadians every month.

— Canwest News Service

 

See the videos and join the Facebook page.