Sunday November 10, 2024 | DUNCAN, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Bill C-333 The National Peacetime Service and Sacrifice Memorial Day Act was introduced in the House of Commons by Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford).
Introduction and first reading was on Thursday, May 18, 2023 (44th Parliament, 1st session). He again mentions the Bill in his newsletter to constituents this month.
MacGregor will be attending the Remembrance Day ceremony at the cenotaph in Duncan on November 11. The ceremony starts at 10:30 am at Charles Hoey Park.
Sacrifice on Canadian soil during peacetime:
Bill C-333 would make October 22 as “Canadian Armed Forces Members’ Day” each year, to commemorate the more than 2,400 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members who made the ultimate sacrifice while on Canadian soil during peacetime, says MacGregor.
Bill C-333 also calls for the Canadian flag on the Peace Tower in Ottawa to be lowered to hast-mast every year on October 22.
That day in 2014:
Many people still remember the shock of that day on October 22, 2014 when a lone gunman who arrived at Parliament Hill shot and killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a 24-year-old Canadian soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial.
It was one of those days that people remember where they were when they heard the news.
MPs who were in the building that day for Wednesday caucus meetings went into lockdown in their caucus meeting rooms (Stephen Harper was Prime Minister at the time, who remained in the room with his Conservative colleagues; the NDP caucus was across the hall; the small Liberal caucus at that time was one floor door).
The gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was killed by Sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers on-site in the Parliament Buildings, in the hallway outside the library.
Local remembrance:
Every year since the 2014 tragedy, there has been remembrance of October 22 in Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island.
Every year Bob Collins, a former member of the Queen’s Own Primary Reserve infantry regiment in Winnipeg and current membership of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 134, has stood at attention at the Cobble Hill cenotaph.
“I want to recognize once again Mr Collins’ efforts at making this bill a reality,” says Alistair MacGregor, MP (Cowichan-Malahat-Langford).
November 8 and 11:
There are currently two nationally-recognized days of remembrance in Canada:
- November 8 – National Indigenous Veterans Day – to commemorate the brave contributions of the First Nations, Inuit and Metis who served in missions in Canada and around the world, in war and peacekeeping efforts.
- November 11 – Remembrance Day – to pay tribute to those who never returned, and salute those who did return, forever changed by their experience.
===== RELATED:
- Remembrance Day 2024 event locations for November 11 (November 10, 2024)
- Oct 22 could be a more formal remembrance (October 22, 2023)
- Community Calendar – meetings and events