Good morning. As Remembrance Day comes closer and we don our poppies proudly to remember and honour our brave Canadian men and women who fought for your freedom and ours and often paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve peace, democracy and the rule of law, Polish Canadians and Poles around the world celebrate November 11 as Polish Independence Day.

This year marks Poland’s 114th anniversary of national independence, also known as Narodowe Święto Niepodległości. We salute the brave men and women who fought and died courageously to preserve Poland’s sovereignty. We ponder the numerous struggles Poland has endured over the last century on the road to freedom and self-governance, including 123 years of partition, the devastation of two world wars, and the hardships endured at the hands of the communist regime.

Madam Speaker, throughout all the hardships and wars, the spirit of Poles and their yearning for freedom could not be crushed. It persevered. As Winston Churchill said, “The soul of Poland is indestructible, and that she will rise again like a rock, which may for a spell be submerged by a tidal wave, but which remains....”

Here in Canada, Polish Canadians make up an essential part of our national character, making up the second-largest Polish diaspora in the world, with over one million Polish individuals who contribute vitally to Ontario and Canada’s economic, social and cultural areas.

Sovereignty and independence are central values of both Canada and Poland. This is why Polish Independence Day signifies personal pride for me. As an immigrant, I am proud of my Polish heritage. I am proud of my homeland, its people, and the fight it had to stand for in order to fight for its freedom.

Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła.

Long live Poland. Long live Canada.

Next week, the Legislature will not be sitting while we observe Remembrance Day week. As we reflect on Remembrance Day, I’d like to speak about a group that has largely been forgotten.

Although First Nation individuals were exempt from conscription, between the First and Second World War, more than 7,000 First Nation individuals voluntarily joined the Canadian Forces to fight for our freedom. At the time, if someone lived off-reserve for more than four years, that person could lose their official Indian status. For many individuals, stationed overseas, fighting for Canada, Canada stripped them of their Indian status, yet many of those individuals continued to give back to their community when they returned to Canada.

Curve Lake First Nation in my riding demonstrated this. During the Second World War, every single eligible male over the age of 18 volunteered to fight for Canada. One of those volunteers was a gentleman named Murray Whetung. Mr. Whetung is someone that I’ve spoken about in this chamber a number of times. His role during the D-Day invasions was to keep the communication lines functioning.

When he returned to Curve Lake, he continued to give back to his community. He was known throughout Peterborough county and revered as an elder, a knowledge holder and a community volunteer. Later today, I will be reintroducing the Murray Whetung Community Service Award to ensure that the positive message he embodied about giving back to communities will be told to our youth.

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements regarding Remembrance Day, with five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s loyal opposition, five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group, and five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government, after which the House shall observe two minutes of silence in commemoration of all those who have served in our Armed Forces.

It is my distinct honour to stand in this Legislature and speak today in recognition of Remembrance Week and Remembrance Day. Every year on November 11, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve, our country during times of war, conflict and peace. We acknowledge the efforts and the sacrifice of these special Canadians and their families. We pause for two minutes of special tribute and we attend commemorative ceremonies in memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice for us in:

—the South African War, or Boer War, from 1899 to 1902;

—the First World War, from 1914 to 1918;

—the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945;

—the Korean War, from 1950 to 1953;

—the Gulf War, from 1990 to 1991; and

—the Afghanistan War, from 2001 to 2014.

I mention all of these wars and conflicts simply because it is important that the service and the sacrifices of Canadians in all of these is never, and will never be, forgotten.

For more than 100 years, millions of Canadians have proudly served our country in uniform. While the Canadian Armed Forces are known to put their lives on the line to support international operations, they also fulfill important roles on home soil.

During the recent COVID crisis, our Canadian Armed Forces came to the aid of Ontario, as well as other provinces, with seniors in long-term care homes. They did so at the request of local civil authorities and provincial governments to help protect Canadians and minimize the impact of the health crisis. It is incumbent upon us all to remember what they found in these homes and to ensure it never, never happens again.

They provide national and regional security, serve on search and rescue missions and respond to national disasters.

Speaker, I cannot let Remembrance Day go by without special recognition and note that it has a special meaning for myself and my family. As I have mentioned before, I am a proud mother to an active service member, Jonathan Lindal. Jonathan is a petty officer first class, currently posted to the Naval Fleet School, Atlantic, as a senior combat information instructor, teaching today’s naval tactics and doctrines to future of the fleet. Jonathan has served over 18 years on His Majesty’s Canadian ships for multiple overseas deployments including missions combatting global terror, anti-piracy, sovereignty patrols and Operation Reassurance support for NATO’s assurance and deterrence measures in central and eastern Europe.

Both his grandfather—my father—and his great-grandfather served our country, as many of us today have family members that we will remember, thank and honour on November 11. We can never repay the debt we owe, nor will we ever have enough gratitude for the freedom and security we enjoy every day across all of our communities. We must do our part to ensure that the sacrifices of our country’s men and women, who fought for and in many cases gave up their life for our right to sit as democratically elected members of this assembly, are not forgotten.

As the proud member of a military family, both past and present, I will watch the national ceremony, locate and attend local ceremonies leading up to the events of November 11—just last week, I attended my local Legion’s poppy kickoff ceremony—lay a wreath at local cenotaphs, proudly wear my poppy, thank and honour anyone in uniform and observe two minutes of silence.

I encourage all of us to do the same because our Canadian Armed Forces and our veterans want Canadians to understand the price of freedom. They are passing the torch to the people of Canada so that the memory and the importance of sacrifices will continue and the values they fought for will continue to live on in all of us.

Our veterans, our country’s men and women of our Canadian services, be it land, air or sea, answered the call to defend freedom. We will forever be grateful. We will remember them. Lest we forget.

Saturday will be the first day of Remembrance Week here in Ontario. It’s that time of year when we remember and reflect on the sacrifices of so many in both small and great conflicts over the years. Their sacrifice was the price of the freedom and the rights we all enjoy today.

One of those who paid the price for us was Robert Ansley Cavanagh. He died at Dieppe on August 19, 1942. He was 19 years old. He was my wife Linda’s uncle, the one she never met. More importantly, he was the brother and best friend to my mother-in-law, Yvonne. His loss was devastating for her. She loved him dearly and never got over it, and for almost 80 years she had his picture by her bedside, right up until the day she died. She never forgot. We have that picture now so that we’ll never forget.

These are turbulent times in our world. We are seeing the rise of fascism with Putin’s attack on the people of Ukraine and all those other conflicts that are happening in the world, and throughout the world whenever we see an effort to take away fundamental rights and freedoms from people it requires all of to us stand up.

It’s important for all of us to remember that our way of life, our democracy, things like our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, were purchased with the blood and sweat and lives of women and men like Robert Ansley Cavanaugh, and the tears of people like my mother-in-law, Yvonne Hooper. We must never forget.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I consider it one of my highest honours to rise in this House and pay tribute to those who have served in Canada’s military. As we all know, Remembrance Day occurs on Friday of next week and it is the culmination of Remembrance Week. It is the day on which we dedicated our gratitude to those who’ve given so much to this province and this country.

Before the ceremonies of November 11, the nation will also pause on November 8, national Indigenous Veterans Day, to pay tribute to the many contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis service people. This province has a long and distinguished record of military heroism and leadership shown by Indigenous soldiers, those who overcame cultural challenges and discrimination to serve this country with honour and distinction.

Throughout Remembrance Week, we pay our respects to the individuals in uniform who protect Canada’s freedoms with courage and selflessness. Remembrance Day is our opportunity to honour those brave women and men who made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of democracy, and to recognize the military veterans who are still with us in our communities today. Every Ontarian owes a debt to these veterans that we can never fully repay.

We must always demonstrate our appreciation, not only on the 11th day of the 11th month, but every day that we step outside our homes as people free of government oppression and free of armed conflict on our home soil. The brutal war being waged by Russia on Ukraine brings into stark focus the dangers that exist in the world today, and the importance of vigilance and standing shoulder to shoulder with our partners in defence of freedom and liberty. As I stand here, brave Canadian servicepeople are stationed across the world providing vital supports including, recently, increased deployments to our friends and allies in eastern Europe.

This year also marks the 150th birthday of Colonel John McCrae, born in Guelph, Ontario in 1872. Colonel McCrae was a combat surgeon who served in one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. Seeing red poppies amid the devastation on the battlefield, Colonel McCrae was moved to write the beloved poem In Flanders Fields. For more than a century, this poem has inspired millions around the globe, and Colonel McCrae’s sentiment lives on in the poppies worn by citizens of numerous countries in honour of their own service members.

And so I encourage every citizen of Ontario to wear the red poppy with pride, to acknowledge that gift of freedom we all hold dear. It’s a gift given to us by all brave servicemen and women who have stood tall and answered the call throughout the history of our country. I also encourage every Ontarian to hold a moment of silence this November 11 in order to thank and remember every one of our heroic military members, both living and those who have sadly departed.

To those heroes, I make a solemn promise to you: We will always stand with you, lest we forget. God bless our veterans: active, retired, and the ones we have lost.

Applause.