SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — D-Day and the Battle of Normandy

Honourable senators, this weekend, we mark the anniversary of the historic landings at Normandy and celebrate the brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces. This year marks 82 years since 14,000 young Canadians stood on the edge of history. Most were barely of adult age. They were Canadians from towns, farms and cities across our country, who left behind everything they knew to step into a literal hell on earth.

When the ramps dropped on Juno Beach, they faced down the Nazi regime — a machinery of absolute evil built on tyranny, hatred and the systematic erasure of human dignity. Those young men waded through cold water, direct gunfire and mortar shells because they knew what was at stake. They did not look for what was convenient. They did not choose what was politically expedient. They did what was right, and, in doing so, they bought our future with their blood.

Colleagues, our country is not the result of chance. It was built on a precious legacy.

We have been handed a sacred treasure — a country founded on freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

If our institutions still exist today, if we are able to sit in this chamber, it is solely because that generation refused to back down on our fundamental values. That tradition of service did not end on the beaches of Normandy. For decades, the men and women of our Armed Forces have carried that torch forward.

Whether in the cold of Korea, on United Nations peacekeeping missions, in the mountains of Afghanistan or even here at home responding to local crises, our military personnel have always answered the call.

But we must always remember, colleagues, that the peace we enjoy today is not the natural state of the world. It is an exception. It was built by sacrifice, and it can only be maintained by resolve.

Today, we look out at a shifting global landscape where the foundational pillars of our civilization — democracy, human rights and the rule of law — face new and complex challenges. In an era preoccupied with the immediate and the comfortable, it can be easy to lose sight of the long-term vigilance required to sustain a free society.

This weekend is our reminder that we are the custodians of what our courageous heroes have built and left behind. May we guard their inheritance with the same quiet resolve they showed on the beaches of Normandy and always ensure that the Canada they bled for remains the Canada we pass to our children.

Thank you, colleagues.