World War II concluded more than 75 years ago, and although there have been regional conflicts where Canada has volunteered soldiers since then, there’s been no war that tested the willingness of all young Canadians to go to the front lines to defend freedom if called upon. Retired Lt.-Col. John Selkirk, who spent decades in the reserves and also taught at the Royal Military College of Canada, expressed confidence that Canada would respond to a contemporary threat. “In those two world wars, it was the nation in arms. It was a nation at war. It wasn’t just the military, of course. It was industry and agriculture, and God knows what. We all knew that it was a big deal,” Selkirk said in an interview. “So would we do that again? I think we would if the threat was serious. And then it’s up to the politicians really to get everybody …