The traditional Remembrance Day ceremony, honoring the memory of servicemen who endangered their lives, was held Thursday morning in Montreal. However, the public was not allowed inside, unlike the activities that were held in Ottawa.
“We will remember them”, immediately launched the president of the Royal Canadian Legion for Quebec, Kenneth Ouellet, at the microphone, as 21 cannon shots rang out and helicopters flew over Place du Canada in the center. – city of the metropolis.
A Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) chaplain then delivered a prayer, stressing that “we are gathered here with hearts filled with gratitude and pride for our service members.” “We will never shirk this duty to remember,” he insisted.
Lasting about an hour, the ceremony ended with the ceremonial laying of the wreaths. The Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Marc Miller, was on site, as was the re-elected mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante. Prime Minister François Legault took part in a ceremony in Quebec City with the new mayor, Bruno Marchand.
“This is an important moment for everyone, and I found it to be particularly touching this year when we know that we have lost a firefighter in the performance of his duties,” said Mme Plant to the media after the event, thus referring to Pierre Lacroix, an experienced firefighter who died on duty on October 17 in the Lachine Rapids during a rescue of drifting boaters.
The mayoress at the same time reiterated “to what extent all these people, whether firefighters or the Armed Forces, work for our security and ensure our well-being”.
From the public in Ottawa
In Ottawa, Remembrance Day ceremonies resumed Thursday with the public who, a year earlier, had to avoid going there due to health constraints.
A spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Legion, Nujma Bond, said she expected a return to normalcy, especially at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, where the public is welcome during the ceremony. Some restrictions were needed, however, such as wearing a mask and physical distancing to avoid spreading COVID-19, which is in its fourth wave in Canada.
However, the Legion was forced to cancel the Veterans Parade in Ottawa, which has been attended by veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War in the past alongside veterans of more recent conflicts and international operations. Branches of the Royal Canadian Legion across the country have also given up on holding events due to the pandemic. The national Remembrance Day ceremony was also broadcast live on television.
This year, in anticipation of this day, questions had been raised as to the possibility of lowering the Canadian flag on November 11, whereas it had already been so since mid-May in memory of those who died on the places of former residential schools for indigenous children, whose anonymous burials have been discovered in recent months. On Sunday, the Trudeau government gave the instruction to hoist the Canadian flag on public buildings before putting it at half mast again Thursday.
With The Canadian Press