No doubt WWI was a foolish war that ended so badly WWII was bound to follow; the treaty was poorly done.

But there is a certain truth to the assertion that it made Canada a nation.  I agree with Ms Wente in that it is difficult to find nation building stories, since unlike most countries, Canada slowly evolved to nationhood.  We have no revolution to glorify, and we have never had conflict on our own soil except as a colony.  Illustrious tales are few, we slogged our way into nationhood, and the first seeds were sown not by us but by Britain in 1867.  WWI proved we could stand on our own.

As an aside, I am saddened by Wilson-Raybould 's remark that it is “hard to celebrate 150 years of colonialism.”  Aboriginals got a raw deal, true enough, but even though our history has its share of lamentable events, we have also done much to be proud of.  I can't think of a country I would rather live in.  If Mr Wilson-Raybould is ashamed of his country he has no business in cabinet.