November 4, 2013
Senate Chamber
Ottawa, Ontario
Speaker Kinsella,
Speaker Scheer,
Honoured Veterans,
Canadian Armed Forces Personnel,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great honour to be with you today … as Canada’s Minister of Veterans Affairs … to officially launch Veterans’ Week 2013.
I thank the Prime Minister for the opportunity he has given me to serve our nation’s Veterans.
I cannot think of a constituency … or a group of Canadians … I could be prouder to represent.
The men and women who have worn the uniform of Canada … and who continue to wear it … reflect the very best of who we are.
They have courageously sacrificed everything dear to them to uphold and defend our values and the principles of democracy, freedom and human rights … and they have done so during both peacetime and war.
This Veterans’ Week, we remember them and, above all, we remember those who have made the supreme sacrifice … in Canada’s name.
During my first four months as Minister, I have been privileged to meet Veterans at home and abroad.
I have travelled widely in Canada to meet Veterans in their own communities … and I feel truly honoured to have shared time with them … to have heard their concerns and their hopes for this great country of ours.
I have also accompanied them to Sicily … to mark the 70th anniversary of Operation Husky … and they were heralded as liberators by Italians still deeply grateful for Canada’s role in freeing them from tyranny and oppression.
And I joined a group of 10 Canadian Veterans who returned to a hero’s welcome in South Korea this summer.
I cannot begin to describe the profound pride I felt as I witnessed the outpouring of deep respect and gratitude for these Canadian Veterans.
The South Koreans have never forgotten the more than 26,000 Canadian men and women who served during the Korean War, or the 7,000 who helped maintain the uneasy peace that followed.
They have never forgotten the 516 Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice.
And neither have we.
This year, as we have marked the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice, we have also declared 2013 as the Year of the Korean War Veteran. In doing so:
- We have led and supported commemorative ceremonies across the country and overseas;
- We have dedicated a new monument in honour of all the Canadians who served on the Korean peninsula in Seoul, South Korea;
- We have created a formal certificate of recognition for all Veterans of the Korean War;
- And, thanks to the dedicated efforts of a member of this very place, we now mark July 27th nationwide as Korean War Veterans Day.
As Canada’s Veterans of the Korean War grow old, and as more of them pass from our midst, we recommit ourselves to remembering them and what they did in the name of peace and freedom.
In the coming year, we will also join the world in marking two other major milestones:
- The centenary of the start of the First World War; and
- The 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War.
Our Government is committed to playing a leading role in the world’s ceremonies … to recognize the sacrifice of the almost 1.8 million Canadian men and women who served during the Great Wars.
That is why I was pleased to be in Paris last month to meet with my counterparts from twenty-two other countries to begin the planning.
With so many significant dates upon us, we reflect with renewed focus on what it means to risk all for one’s country.
Canada’s Veterans stepped forward with no thought of personal gain … no desire for glory … no guarantee of safety.
Wherever or whenever they have served, Canada’s Veterans have done so in response to something greater than themselves.
They served for their families … for their children … for those who would come after them … for all of us … for Canada.
Therefore, it is essential that … as a nation … we honour them while they are with us, and honour their memory.
Each year, at this time, we renew our promise of remembrance.
We ask all Canadians to reach out to the Veterans still among us, and to remember those who did not return home.
I would now like to quote select verses from a poem by Thomas Gray called ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.’
This poem of great power was well known to Canadian troops serving in both Great Wars. It represents the core humanity of suffering, loss and sacrifice that war brings to the forefront.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
Here rests his head upon the lap of earth
A youth to fortune and to fame unknown.
Fair science frowned not on his humble birth,
And melancholy marked him for her own.
As I close, I urge Canadians … please, take a moment to think about the sacrifices Canada’s Veterans have made, and to imagine our country without their heroism, without their selflessness, and without their dedication.
Their acts helped to define Canada as a nation, and without them we would not be who we are.
Please join me in thanking them for what they have contributed to Canada, and to the world.
To Canadians outside this chamber, I ask you, during this Veterans’ Week, please take the time to remember them—for without them, there is no us.
Lest We Forget.
