Burnaby marks Remembrance Day

Several dignitaries and politicians attended the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Burnaby South on Monday, Nov. 11, including the NDP MLAs elected into office in the recent provincial election. The parade started around 10:15am at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 83 headquarters at 5289 Grimmer St. and included members of the armed forces, veterans, RCMP members, and firefighters, among others. The parade arrived at Bonsor Park Cenotaph around 10:45am.

Several elected officials marched in the parade with the bagpipers and band, including Burnaby South MP and leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh, as well as the newly elected Paul Choi Burnaby South Metrotown MLA Anne Kang, who was recently reelected as MLA for Burnaby Centre, and Raj Chouhan who was recently reelected as MLA for Burnaby-Westminster. 

Burnaby city councillor Daniel Tetrault attended as acting mayor, and Coun. Maita Santiago and Coun. Joe Keithley also marched in the parade and participated in the subsequent ceremony at Bonsor Park. 

Master of ceremonies, Joe Cairns, started the ceremony by asking all attendees to observe two minutes of silence at exactly 11am for those killed in various conflicts and in the line of duty. 

Bagpiper Laurie Duncan played a lament, followed by “Last Post”, played by bugler Jay Drew. A cadet then recited the poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae.

Vocalist Christine Sinclair sang “O Canada” and most of the people in attendance joined in the singing of the national anthem. 

Jubilee United Church minister Gabrielle McLarty then gave a scripture reading and a short speech. 

“There is a breadth to life. There is a time of dying and living. There is a time of planting and harvesting, but sometimes it feels these days like we’re at the poles; you’re with me or against me. But much of life is lived in the middle. It’s in the middle where we can find common ground with those who see things differently and those who may be of a different political persuasion or ethnicity,” McLarty said in her speech. 

Vocalist Sinclair then sang the hymn “Abide With Me” and was joined by the members of the public who were present and the official dignitaries. 

Unlike last year’s ceremony, this year, the ceremony was shorter in duration, and there were fewer and shorter speeches. 

The wreath-laying ceremony followed the hymn singing. Last year, Singh was not present in person to lay his wreath, and a delegate did so on his behalf; this year, he laid the wreath himself. Kang, Choi, and Chouhan each laid down a wreath. As acting mayor, Tetrault laid down a wreath on behalf of the City of Burnaby.

The event ended around 11:50am. Once the crowd dispersed, some people laid down their own wreaths and commemorative items and took pictures of the cadets standing at the cenotaph.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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