By Richard Lawrence
To see all the pictures, go to the gallery at:
https://www.richardlawrencephotography.ca/rlpgalleries/2022/senate2022/
Everyone is familiar with Remembrance Day and the National Remembrance Ceremony but fewer realize that the week leading up to the national ceremony is known as Veterans Week and is full of other remembrance ceremonies. The first to start the week takes place in the Senate of Canada and this year that happened on Friday, the 4th November, 2022, at the Senate of Canada Building, formally the Ottawa central train station.
It was a mixed group invited to the ceremony with government officials and various veterans groups who mingled and remembered during the time prior to the start of this event. Representatives came from the Royal Canadian Legion, the Korean War Veterans Association, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and many other groups but shining out by herself was the diminutive Elsa Lessard. Elsa had turned 100 years old this year and remembers fondly her time as a “listener”, listening to and transcribing secret German U-Boat transmissions and forwarding them on to Bletchley Park in England for code breaking. Other guests also shared stories and some were just happy to be out and about to see everyone again after Covid restrictions.
The master of ceremonies, LCol. Carl Gauthier, stated in his opening remarks that the gathering this year is “… to reflect, to remember, and honour those who have served and sacrificed so much on our behalf.” and this theme would carry on with the addresses of the official party. The official party this year was the Honourable George Furey (Speaker of the Senate), the Honourable Anthony Rota (MP and Speaker of the House of Commons), the Honourable Marc Gold (the Government Representative in the Senate), and Capt. (N) Bonita Mason (Deputy Chaplain General of the CAF). Unfortunately, the CDS was unable to attend but his chair was admirably filled by the VCDS, LGen. Frances Allen. Music was provided by the Lancaster Brass Quintet of the Central Band of the CAF and the Ottawa Children’s Choir.
Mr. Furey was first to speak and his remarks were short as were those of Mr. Rota who followed. Mr. Gold, who spoke after an interlude by the Ottawa Children’s Choir, remarked that it was the 105th anniversary of the Passchendaele and Vimy Ridge battles, the 80th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid, 30 years since the UN Protection Force for Yugoslavia, and 25 years since the CAF participated in Operation Assistance by deploying 8,500 personnel to Manitoba to help during the 1997 “flood of the century”. Capt.(N) Mason, during her prayer, remembered Queen Elizabeth II who refused to leave England during WWII and joined the military as soon as she was eligible.
After the Act of Remembrance and the Commitment to Remember, The Last Post, the Silence, the Rouse and the Lament, came the laying of the wreath by the Mr. Furey, Mr. Rota, and Mr. Gold. The wreath was composed of a green wreath filled with “ … white orchids symbolizing the gallantry of service and sacrifice of Canada’s military men and women, and a cluster of red roses, in the heart position, symbolizing the eternal respect and thanks of a grateful Canada” (taken from the official program).
The program soon came to a close, ending with the Royal Anthem and the official procession departing the chamber. Everyone present was invited to a reception in the Senate Lobby where refreshments were provided and more visiting ensued, along with the inevitable stories and remembrances.
