The former head of the Canadian Forces says a group of university professors who objected to a scholarship for children of Canadian soldiers killed in the line of duty have missed the point of the Project Hero program.
A group of 16 professors at the University of Regina this week sent a public letter objecting to the program, which helps pay the tuition of students who have had a parent die while working for the Canadian Forces.
The professors said the program glorifies military intervention, such as the current Canadian mission in Afghanistan, and demanded that the university drop the scholarships.
The letter called the scholarship program "a glorification of Canadian imperialism in Afghanistan and elsewhere."
"In our view, support for Project Hero represents a dangerous cultural turn. It associates heroism with the act of military intervention ... In signing on to Project Hero, the university is implicated in the disturbing construction of the war in Afghanistan by Western military and state elites as the 'good war' of our epoch. We insist that our university not be connected with the increasing militarization of Canadian society and politics," the letter reads.
Retired General Rick Hillier, the former chief of the defence staff and one of the founders of the Project Hero scholarship program, said the professors are entitled to their opinion on the war in Afghanistan, where 141 Canadian soldiers have died since 2002.
But he said that has nothing to do with the scholarships he helped to set up shortly after he retired from the military in 2008.
"We've got a very special group of young men and women in the Canadian forces, who serve their country and along with that service comes an unlimited liability -- up to and including the possibility of losing their lives in the service of their country," he said in a telephone interview with CTV.ca.
"Is there no way that we can repay them for that service? No way that we can repay their loved ones when they make the ultimate sacrifice? I think Project Hero is just exactly that -- a way to show them that we care, in a very substantial way."
He said the scholarships have nothing to do with support for the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.
"The will of Parliament said our young men and women should go to Afghanistan," he said. "And when they lose their lives in that mission, they do so serving the will of Parliament, a Parliament elected to represent all 35 million Canadians."
Hillier said he has no objections to similar scholarships for the children of police officers or firefighters "or anyone else for that matter."
"But I wanted to do something for the children of our fallen heroes in the Canadian Forces," he said.
The professors have come under intense criticism since making their letter public, including from Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Regina MP Tom Lukiwski, who called on the professors to apologize for "politicizing" the deaths of Canadian soldiers.
"Whether or not you agree with our presence in Afghanistan, for these professors to try and politicize and diminish the role and sacrifices made by our Canadian military men and women is absolutely inappropriate, shameful and disgraceful," said Lukiwski, the Conservative MP for Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre.
"I'm calling on them to retract their statements and publicly apologize to Canadian military families."
Jeffery Webber, a professor at the University of Regina who signed the letter, said he has been receiving hate mail because of the group's position.
"We're not allowed to have dissenting opinions about the Canadian military apparently, without vitriolic attacks, which is very unhealthy for a democracy," Webber said on CTV News Channel.
"It's quite disingenuous of anyone to present this as an apolitical tactic on the part of the promoters of Project Hero," he said, singling out Hillier. "This is very much a political campaign that a public university should have no part of."
Joyce Green, a professor of political science who also signed the letter, said the group objected to portraying soldiers killed in military operations as heroes.
"We felt that the name implied that all of those who have died in military service are heroes. And we think that heroism is a different kind of thing and we do not want some students to be seen as more worthy than others."
University spokesperson Barb Pollock said the school has received dozens of emails and even more letters and phone calls since the letter was made public. "Only two of them supported the concerns raised by the professors," she said.
Pollock said that the university recognizes that the issue raises strong feelings on both sides, but added that the Project Hero scholarships will be offered in September as planned.
"The program is continuing," she said.
More than 26 universities and colleges in Canada have committed to the project, including Montreal's McGill University, Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., and the University of Calgary.
The scholarships pay for four years of tuition, plus $1,000 for books.
Ben Walsh, whose son Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh was killed in Afghanistan, defended the scholarships, saying they may give his three grandchildren a chance to attend university.
"There's nothing wrong with Project Hero," he said.
The professors who disagree with the program are making it "a political matter," he said, and they should "get on with doing some constructive work."
