Soldiers are killed in wars. Police officers are killed in the line of duty. Workers are killed on the job.

Women are killed âe¦ more often than not, just because they’re women.

And why stop there? People are killed because they’re homeless, because of their sexual orientation, because of their colour, religion, age, ethnicity.

Which of these lives lost are most worthy of being honoured in death?

That has become the stark question as controversy swirls around the lowering to half mast of the Peace Tower flag. Whose life âe” and whose death âe” is worth more in our national consciousness?

The issue turned up in the news after a non-partisan committee chaired by the former chief herald of Canada advised the government to scale back the number of days each year that receive the honour to intensify the impact when the flag is lowered for Remembrance Day. Right now, the flag is lowered in April for workers, in September for police officers, in November for Remembrance Day and on December 6, the day that commemorates violence against women. The Liberal government under Jean Chrétien began to lower it every time a Canadian soldier died in a military action abroad, which, in these times, means Afghanistan.

Although Parliament has now voted to continue lowering the flag for each of these occasions, the Stephen Harper Conservative government says it will ignore the non-binding motion and lower the flag only on Remembrance Day.

There is much speculation that the Harper government doesn’t want to draw attention to the deaths of soldiers in Afghanistan, understanding that the mission is not popular with Canadians. This is probably accurate, although I admit that my first thought was that this government would do anything to avoid honouring women who, around the world, are killed by their intimate partners at a much greater rate than Canadian soldiers are killed by the Taliban.

I strenuously oppose the mission in Afghanistan, although I don’t wish harm to come to the military personnel serving there. But with all due respect and at the risk of sounding callous, people who join military service understand that their career choice comes with a high degree of risk of injury and death âe” especially when their country is involved in a war. Likewise, those who choose to work in law enforcement know going in that theirs is an occupation that will require them to face life-threatening situations.

But workers in more conventional jobs don’t die as a result of fate or because their jobs are inherently dangerous. Most die because, even if there are health and safety laws created to protect them, they are often not implemented nor properly enforced. They die in much greater numbers than soldiers or police officers.

And I think it’s fair to say that, as women, no matter how much we know or how much we rage, most of us don’t enter intimate relationships fearfully, anticipating a deadly finale. Perhaps we should. The murder of women by husbands and boyfriends is no longer a secret; it is predictable and preventable and yet the numbers are not declining. Just last year, in a national study commissioned by the YWCA in which women in shelters were interviewed, about 77 per cent of the women were considered to be at extreme or severe risk of homicide. Close to 40 per cent of the women had been prevented by their partner from getting medical aid for injuries resulting from the abuse at least once.

The statistics and other information about the abuse of women are widely available and are almost overwhelming. We talk about the need for education and we continue the fight for equality and yet the violence continues, still mishandled, still misunderstood, still misrepresented.

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I believe the flag should be lowered on Remembrance Day, not because I want to look at the hypocritical faces of Stephen Harper or Defence Minister Peter MacKay. But when I look at the sad faces of the now-aged veterans of earlier wars, I believe they are truly remembering and not glorifying the tragic price that was paid, that is always paid when war is seen to be an answer to often manufactured conflicts.

And this is where I intended to stop. But I’ve changed my mind.

If I were the arbiter in the conflict about when to lower the Peace Tower flag, I would also lower it in April to honour all workers who died while doing their jobs âe” whether it be in fishing (the most dangerous occupation) or mining, construction or policing, nursing or plumbing or firefighting or cab-driving.

And I would lower it on December 6, in anger, in defiance and in shame. And each year, I would demand that the symbolic gesture be used to reawaken our resolve âe” in the face of apathy and hostility âe” to mourn, to work for change and to somehow save women from being murdered by the men who claim to love them.