On Sunday, October 16, I had the honour of attending the Six Nations Veterans Association annual Remembrance Day parade and service in Ohsweken. The beautiful, sunny, fall day did not mask the seriousness of the occasion honouring First Nations veterans that fought in every major conflict that Canada has ever been in.

Speaker, the Six Nations Remembrance Day ceremony is very personal to me. The liberation of the Netherlands, from September 1944 to April 1945, played a key role in the culmination of the Second World War, as the Allied Forces closed in on Germany from all sides. The First Canadian Army played a major role in the liberation of the Dutch people, who had suffered terrible hunger and hardship under the increasingly desperate German occupiers. Six Nations soldiers were among Allied soldiers that fought town to town, canal by canal, pushing back the occupying German forces from the country of my birth, the Netherlands.

The First Canadian Army also played a leading role in opening Belgium and the Netherlands’ Scheldt estuary gateway to the port of Antwerp, a key city in the region. More than 7,600 Canadians died in the eight-month campaign to liberate the Netherlands, a tremendous sacrifice in the cause for freedom.

And, Speaker, I will wear a poppy with a deep sense of pride, lovingly made in my riding of Brantford–Brant by Tuscarora hands that remind me of the sacrifices made by First Nations, Canadians and Allied troops in Europe.

If you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the House to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Morgan Russell and Devon Northrup of the South Simcoe Police Service, who were tragically killed in the line of duty on October 11.

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance for the late Mr. Gordon Irvin Miller, with five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government, five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s loyal opposition and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group.

Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance of the late Mr. Douglas Jack Wiseman, 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.

Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance for the late Mr. Richard Patten, with five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government, five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s loyal opposition, and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group.

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance of the late Mr. Julian Alexander Arnott Reed, with five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government, five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s loyal opposition, and five minutes allotted to the independent members as a group.

Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in remembrance of the Honourable William Grenville Davis, 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.