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.

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.

Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honour to rise today to pay tribute to, and express my sincere gratitude for, the service and sacrifice veterans have made in this province and for our country. To those who made the ultimate sacrifice, they provide a stark reminder of what it takes to defend our rights and freedoms. We all continue to benefit from your sacrifices, and each and every one of us has a duty to defend our democracy, our rights and freedoms. As Guelph’s famous son, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae said, “If ye break faith with us who die / We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields.” To those who served, we shall not break faith with what you fought and died for.

The scars of war run deep. I’ve experienced it in the stoicism of my own family members who served, who quietly carried memories of the horrors they experienced to protect those of us they loved. We have an obligation to not only remember and pay tribute, but to also care and support those who served and their families who carry the pain of their loss.

To the veterans and first responders of this province and this country, I say thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your service and sacrifice. We must honour it. We must remember it. Lest we forget.