CANADA REMEMBERS
The Hon. Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, the Hon. Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons, Mrs. Della Morley, the 2009 National Silver Cross Mother, and her husband Mr. Morley, His Excellency Jean-Daniel Lafond, Her Excellency the Right Hon. Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, the Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada and Mrs. Laureen Harper and their family and the Hon. Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Veterans Affairs, pay tribute to fallen soldiers and Canada’s military at home and abroad
November 11, 2009
Speaker Kinsella and the Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Veterans Affairs, greet the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, at the National Remembrance Day Ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa
November 11, 2009
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada and His Royal Highness Prince Charles, laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa
November 11, 2009
Speaker Kinsella and Speaker Milliken laid a wreath on behalf of the Parliament of Canada at the National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa
November 11, 2009
Speaker Kinsella joins Mrs. Laureen Harper and children Rachel and Ben Harper at the National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa
November 11, 2009
The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons, the Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Veterans Affairs and Speaker Kinsella after laying a wreath in the Senate Chamber.
November 6, 2009
Mr. Kevin M. Vickers, Sergeant-at-Arms, Mr. Willy Bruce, Aboriginal Veteran’s Eagle Staff, Lieutenant-Colonel Terry Cherwick, Air Command Chaplain, Algonquin Elder Joe Lacroix, Aboriginal Veteran’s Eagle Staff, the Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, Mr. Gary O’Brien, Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments, Blair Armitage, Principal Clerk of the Senate
November 6, 2009
Speaker Kinsella welcomes the audience to the Ceremony of Remembrance in the Senate Chamber
Speaking Notes
November 6, 2009
Speaker Kinsella welcomes the audience to the Ceremony of Remembrance in the Senate Chamber
November 6, 2009
A sharing of thoughts by Major (retired) Edmund (Ted) R.M. Griffiths and Mr. Ben Sharp
November 6, 2009
The Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Veterans Affairs, addresses the gathering
November 6, 2009
The gathering for the Ceremony of Remembrance in the Senate Chamber
November 6, 2009
The Act of remembrance by Mr. Nelson John Langevin
November 6, 2009
The commitment to remember by Ms. Rosemary Gallo
November 6, 2009
The Senate Chamber during the moment of silence
November 6, 2009
The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons, the Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Veterans Affairs and Speaker Kinsella lay a wreath in the Senate Chamber
November 6, 2009
Speaker Kinsella with a guest at the reception following the Ceremony of Remembrance
November 6, 2009
Speaker Kinsella shares thoughts with guests at the reception following the Ceremony of Remembrance
November 6, 2009
Mr. Blair Armitage, Principal clerk, and Speaker Kinsella arrive at the National Military Cemetery
November 5, 2009
Tombstone at the National Military Cemetery
November 5, 2009
Speaker Kinsella lays a wreath at the National Military Cemetery
November 5, 2009
Senate Protective Service officers at the National Military Cemetery
November 5, 2009
Speaker Kinsella and Warrant Officer at the site of fallen Afghanistan Canadian soldier
November 5, 2009
National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces
November 5, 2009
Speaker Kinsella takes a moment to reflect at the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces
November 5, 2009
Remembrance Ceremony: Poppy pinning in the Senate entrance
October 27, 2009
Remembrance Ceremony: Poppy pinning in the Senate entrance
October 27, 2009
Remembrance Ceremony: Poppy pinning in the Senate entrance
October 27, 2009
Tribute honouring fallen Mexican Heroes in the Hall of Honour in la Heroica Escuela Naval Militar (Heroic Military Navy School) in Veracruz, Mexico
January 12, 2009
The Hon. Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, the 2008 National Silver Cross Mother, Ms. Avril Dianna Stachnik, the Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, with her daughter, Marie-Éden, and the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper pay tribute to fallen soldiers and Canada’s military at home and abroad
November 11, 2008
Speaker Kinsella lays the wreath for the Parliament of Canada at the National Remembrance Day Ceremony held at the National War Memorial in Ottawa
November 11, 2008
Speaker Kinsella speaks with the Hon. Marjory LeBreton, Leader of Government in the Senate and Minister of State (Seniors) and Prime Minister Stephen Harper
November 11, 2008
Veterans of Canada pass the torch
November 11, 2008
National Remembrance Day Ceremony held at the National War Memorial
November 11, 2008
Senate Ceremony Launches Veterans’ Week 2008
November 6, 2008
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate of Canada, laid a wreath on November 5, 2008 at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa in honour of the men and women of Canada who gave their lives for the liberties and freedoms we enjoy today.
View film of wreath laying
November 5, 2008
Major William Fletcher, SMV, CD, pins Poppy on Speaker Kinsella
October 29, 2008
Launch of the 2008 Senate Poppy Campaign
October 29, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
Speaker Kinsella and the Senate of Canada show solidarity with fallen Muslim soldiers from North Africa.
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Notre-Dame de Lorette National Cemetery, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Canadian National Vimy Memorial, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Canadian National Vimy Memorial, on a Parliamentary Delegation to France
May 17, 2008
Speaker Kinsella lays a wreath on
the tomb of the unknown soldier in the
Kremlin Wall on a Parliamentary Delegation to Russia
November 5, 2007
Speaker Kinsella lays a wreath on
the tomb of the unknown soldier in the
Kremlin Wall on a Parliamentary Delegation to Russia
November 5, 2007
Speaker Kinsella lays a wreath in front of the National War Memorial on Remembrance Day
November 11, 2006
The Peace Tower flag flies at half mast on Remembrance Day to commemorate
those
who served Canada during a time of war
November 11, 2006
Ceremonial wreath laying in the Senate Chamber with the Minister of Veterans Affairs,
the Honourable Greg Thompson, and Speaker of the House of Commons,
the Honourable Peter Milliken
November 6, 2006
Speaker named as Chair of the Poppy Campaign in the Senate
October 27, 2006
Ceremony in Senate Chamber Launches Veterans’ Week
November 06, 2006
Speaker Kinsella places a wreath on behalf of the Senate of Canada,
commemorating the Canadian War Dead at the Last Post Ceremony,
Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, Ypres, Belgium
August 2006
Collage of the Menin Gate Memorial of the Missing, Belgium, and the Last Post Ceremony
August 2006
In 1914, when Laurence Binyon penned his immortal poem, For the Fallen , the world was watching in horror as yet another war was unfolding on the continent that would ultimately see a generation lost on the battlefields of Europe.
And it is in that poem that Binyon articulates the responsibility of following generations to those who gave their lives that we may live in peace and security. Let me remind you of those words…they adorn war memorials across Canada, and I am sure many among you, particularly our honored veterans, will know them well:
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
.....we will remember them.”.
During the First World War, Canada sent more than 600,000 soldiers overseas. 66,000 died and 172,000 were wounded, fighting at places like Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Bourlon Wood, Mons, Passchendaele and Ypres.
It was called the war to end all wars, yet 20 years later the world had once more become a dangerous place and once again another generation was sent overseas, to fight and die on our behalf. More than one million men and women answered the call of service and more than 47,000 did not return.
And the call to service did not end there; 26,000 Canadians served in Korea and 516 Canadian soldiers died there.
In the decades of peace that followed, many of us grew to adulthood thinking that the times of war were over and that as parents and grandparents, we would never have to send our children and grandchildren off to die in foreign conflicts. We were mistaken.
In fact, every Canadian generation since the beginning of the 20th century has sent its sons and daughters abroad to fight and die for our freedom and the freedom of others.
Even in times of peace, Canadian soldiers have lost their lives as they stood in the no man's land between warring factions around the globe. And today, our losses in Afghanistan continue to remind us that we, and other civilizations that share our world, owe our security and our way of life to young Canadian soldiers who are prepared to stand between us and those who wish to do us harm.
Heather Robertson expresses it well in her book, A Terrible Beauty, the
Art of Canada at war: "They died for us, for their homes and families and friends, for a collection of traditions they cherished and a future they believed in; they died for Canada.”
And that is why every year, Canadians across this nation, and those abroad, will gather at their war memorials, from the National War memorial to the many cenotaphs that stand proudly in so many town squares across Canada; so that we can re-dedicate ourselves to our promise; our promise to remember them.
|
