PRIME Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday in a statement on Remembrance Day: “Today, Canadians gather to honour the generations of women and men who answered the call. We remember those who spent years away from their loved ones, those who returned forever changed, and those who never came home. At cenotaphs across this nation, after the sounding of the ‘Last Post’, we will bow our heads to honour their service and sacrifice.
“This year, we also remember Sergeant Morgan Wong, Private Shaun Farrell, Private Aidan Goulding, and Private Hayden Lykkemark – four Canadian soldiers who lost their lives while training to serve our country at CFB Wainwright. With their bright futures still before them, they chose to safeguard ours. We mourn their loss, stand with those recovering from their injuries, and hold their families and fellow service members in our thoughts.
“In an increasingly dangerous and divided world, our rights and freedoms do not defend themselves. They are earned every single day. Our remembrance is more than an expression of gratitude. It is an act of vigilance and determination. And it is a promise: that what they defended, we will defend; that what they won, we will keep, forever cherish, and pass on.
“Lest we forget.”
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CONSERVATIVE Leader Pierre Poilievre said: “At eleven o’clock this morning, Canadians across our country will fall silent: two minutes to remember generations of brave men and women who gave so much for the country we call home.
“From the trenches of the First World War to the battlefields of the Second, from Korea to the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan, and peacekeeping missions around the world. They were sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, friends and neighbours.
“Extraordinary Canadians who answered the call to serve.
“This year marks 25 years since Canada’s mission in Afghanistan began. More than 40,000 Canadians served and 158 members of our Armed Forces gave their lives.
“And this year, the cost of service has been brought painfully close to home. Just weeks ago, four Canadian soldiers lost their lives in a tragic training fire at CFB Wainwright. Dozens more were injured.
“Today, we mourn those we lost. We pray for those recovering, and for the families whose lives have been forever changed. Their sacrifice reminds us of the extraordinary risks our men and women in uniform accept, even in times of peace.
“So today, when the clock strikes eleven, wherever you are, I ask you to take those two minutes.
“Remember those who never came home. Honour those who did. And thank those who continue to serve.
“Because the country we love, and the freedoms we cherish, have been defended by generations of Canadians willing to put their lives on the line for all of us.
“We owe them our enduring gratitude.
“Lest we forget.”
