Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 29

CANADA THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2004 B9 Vimy Ridge survivors IS? spoke out against war, including Iraq, from his U.S. home EDMONTON JOURNAL A C3 I I S3S ENGLAND II FOR ALL THE PLACES YOU'LL GO S3? dlifl RANDY BOSWELL Ottawa Citizen rvLaciies te(em Stdecca Brown Natural Leathers Available' Regular Mil) '1. 9 Eades Mmmm Mms Mm 'Brown Oily Leather' Regular $150 f-f I ft One of Canada's last living links to the First World War has been severed with the death of Manitoba-born Clifford Fjolliday, a 105-year-old California social activist who waged the final batde ojf his life against the war in Iraq. Holliday, who had been honoured recently as the last surviving Canadian veteran from the Battle of Vimy Ridge, died Tuesday at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena. jArchival records now suggest Holliday might have been wounded and out of aption during the Canadian army's historic April 1917 victory at Vimy, but his outstanding war service, extreme longevity and outspoken pacifism in response to whathe called America's "war for oil" made him a rare species among Canada's old soldiers one that never faded away.

f'l don't go for this war stuff, and I don't care who knows it," Holliday told Can-West News in an interview last year about the U.S.-led attack on Iraq and his own experiences on Europe's bloody battlefields nearly a century ago. "If the leaders of the world had to put in two days fighting in something like that, there'd be a great change in the world. (U.S. President George Bush wouldn't have lasted five minutes on the ground." Holliday, who was born in Plumas, in 1898 and enlisted with Winnipeg 43th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders, had mostly impressionistic memories of his teenage years in the trenches of France and Belgium. He was wounded twice once from a single bullet that sliced through the flesh of bothlegs and another time from a blast of shrapnel that struck his jaw and cheek.

He recalled, above all, how a 30-minute, machine-gun slaughter in one battle reduced a mighty throng of Canadian soldiers to a bloodied fraction of survivors. a i si LADlLS-yr LADIES Sindiau LADIES SPearf 'Black Tan Leather' 'Black Honey Walher' 'Black, Red, Natural Blue Leiiiier' 'Black Red Leather' 1 1 a i 'Where Casual rasnion meets an Active Jsifedwcs 5 'SSff -it: Ottawa hoarding museums, Asper foundation head says Clifford Holliday in 1917, and recently "I can't remember the names. I'm too scattered now. But just before dawn I remember our battalion went in with 1,100 strong and when we came out, there were 127 men on their feet who answered the next roll call," he said last year. Holliday was a farm boy from a small town near Winnipeg whenhe was talked into enlisting in November 1914 at the age of 16.

He was considered too young at first, but thanks to a soldier friend of his sister's, was given the job ofbugle boy and issued a uniform. "I never touched a bugle in my life," he recalled. After being wounded, Holliday was assigned to a supply unit in England where he finished out the war packing boots for soldiers at the front. It was there that he celebrated the November 1918 armistice and met his future wife Annie. Following the war, he learned the electrical trade in Winnipeg.

A co-worker, originally from California, offered him a job in Los Angeles and Holliday moved there in March 1922. He specialized as an electrician with movie studios and theatres that were converting from silent film to "talkies." He built a successful career and met silver-screen stars such as Fred Astaire and fellow Canadian ex-pat Mary Pickford. When Holliday hit the headlines last year with his remarks about Iraq, Veterans Affairs Canada knew of only 13 surviving soldiers from the First WorldWar. Department spokeswoman Janice Summerby said Wednesday that Holl-iday's death has reduced that number to eight: Lloyd Clemett and Clare Lak-ingofTorontOjPaulMetivierofOttawa, Dwight Wilson ofOshawa, Lazare Gionet of Carquet, N.B., Alice Strike of Halifax, Duke Procter of Vernon, B.C., and John Babcock of Spokane, Washington. She suggested national institutions should lobby for more funding or look to the private sectorto find the resources to expand their reach across the country.

Asper said fundraising efforts for the new Winnipeg centre, also known as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, will include a trust fund to help students from across the country travel to the centre and participate in its programs. The $270-million project is expected to be a unique initiative, addressing issues of tolerance and respect for human rights. The project was originally conceived by Asper's father, Israel Asper, the media magnate who died in Winnipeg last October. CanWest owns the Global Television Network as well as 11 dairy newspapers, including The Journal, across Canada. CanWest News Service f.

PACKAGE INCLUDES: One night accommodation -cabins with a mountain view Two free tickets to Miette Hot Springs, just minutes from your cabin door Full breakfast for two All the sun you can soak up (Heated outdoor pool A opens May 5th) AlbertOS 1 CANADA MMHM I Tuwrfotf, Calgary Herald CALGARY Canada's museums and national arts treasures are far too centralized in Ottawa and should reach out to more Canadians with travelling exhibits and performances, the head of the Asper Foundation said in a speech Wednesday. Gail Asper, who is leading the fundrais-ing campaign for the new Canadian Centre for Human Rights in Winnipeg, said national institutions like the Museum of Civilization should be more accessible outside the nation's capital. "We feel very strongly thatthe badges of federalism should be set out throughout the country not just prisons," said Asper, who is also corporate secretary CanWestGlobalCommunicationCorp. and president of the CanWest Global Foundation. 12 mr.irS.

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