A First World War-era illustration depicts a Canadian soldier in action. [Canada in Khaki]

Half of Canadians say they would go to war for their country; youth, not so much

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

With the U.S. president threatening to economically bludgeon Canada into submission as the 51st state, just under half of surveyed Canadians (49 per cent) say they would go to war for their country.

Those most willing to lay it on the line, 55 per cent of whom said they were willing to fight, were over 54 years old. Among the 1,619 Canadians surveyed, those of fighting age—18- to 34-year-olds—were far less inclined to enlist.

In response to the question, “Could you ever foresee an armed conflict that would compel you to volunteer for military service in a combat role?,” just 43 per cent of the youngest group told the Angus Reid Institute they would.

READ MORE

More from Front Lines

• Rules-based order not working, says British field marshal
• Canada Day is forever Memorial Day in Newfoundland
• PContinental army barracks burned by British discovered in Colonial Williamsburg

Sculptor Tyler Fauvelle poses with his monument of Fern Blodgett Sunde in Farsund, Norway, during its unveiling on May 8, 2025. [courtesy Tyler Fauvelle]

A duplicate of a Canadian war memorial at home in Norway

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

No one expected her to return from her initial voyage across the Atlantic. To make the crossing during the Second World War meant navigating mined waters in treacherous weather, knowing full well U-boats may lurk below.

But with a bucket nearby, Fern Blodgett Sunde made the trip 77 more times aboard the Norwegian merchant vessel Mosdale. Sunde was the first Canadian woman to earn a second class wireless operator’s certificate, and the first women to be a deep sea radio operator. She served until the war’s end, and 75 years later, her life and legacy was captured in a bronze public memorial in her hometown of Cobourg, Ont.

The same place she “watched the Great Lake ships go by, and dreamed of a career at sea, even though it would have been impossible for a young woman born at the end of the First World War.”

READ MORE

More from The Briefing

• The Taste of Longing: A novelistic biography of WW II PoW Ethel Mulvany
• New children’s books shines light on Canadian military experience
• Chaplain historian highlights Canadian padres of WW II

Member Benefit Partner

Learn More