As John Anderson prepared to lay a wreath at a Remembrance Day ceremony at Toronto’s Old City Hall, the retired Canadian Navy lieutenant said he would be thinking of people who were part of his service “brotherhood.”
The Cambridge, Ont., resident who was in the navy for more than 40 years said taking part in the solemn ceremonies every year is a particular honour.
“It honours the people who served to give us what we have today and the current people that are serving,” he said. “You bring them together, it’s like one big brotherhood.”
Anderson was in the large crowd gathered around the Old City Hall Cenotaph to honour the sacrifices of Canada’s veterans and soldiers.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also commemorated the Legion on its 100th anniversary during her remarks at the event.
“The Legion shows us the city we can be. A city where no one carries the burden alone. A city where we take care of each other and stand up for each other,” she said.
About two kilometres away, many more joined a ceremony outside Queen’s Park, where Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this Remembrance Day “is especially poignant” after the devastating fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta that killed four soldiers and injured dozens of others.
“I want to thank all the heroic Ontario health care workers who were deployed to support recovery efforts and continue to pray for those impacted by the fire,” he said.
“Whether it’s a family member or a friend who answered the call to serve, or someone who came home with wounds, visible and invisible, Remembrance Day holds a special meaning for each of us.”
Brig.-Gen. Éric Landry, who has served in Afghanistan in a leadership role, thanked every member of the Canadian Armed Forces who has chosen to defend the country.
“We are a very reliable ally. We are the neighbour every country (wishes) they had,” he told the crowd at Queen’s Park.
“We deployed 40,000 troops to Afghanistan over 15 years; 158 of us never came back. And all of us who did come back were changed forever. So I want to thank everybody, but I want to tell them also that this is worth it. Canada is worth defending,” he said.
Landry also honoured the four soldiers who died in the Wainwright fire, saying they will never be forgotten.
Other Remembrance Day ceremonies were also held in Toronto, including Prospect Cemetery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Fort York National Historic Site and the Toronto Zoo.
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