SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Vimy Ridge Day

Honourable senators, on April 9, Canada will commemorate Vimy Ridge Day. I want to acknowledge the members of the Vimy Foundation with us today, who help keep the memory alive.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge during the First World War was not just a military victory for Canada, but it was also seen as the birth of a modern Canada emerging from Britain’s imperial shadow.

The four Canadian Corps divisions fought together for the first time at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. During the war, Canadians earned a reputation for their valour in combat. That’s why Canadians were chosen to fight at Vimy in April 1917, and they emerged victorious.

One hundred years after the battle — at that same spot, where more than 10,000 Canadians were either killed or wounded — a future king paid tribute:

. . . Canadians displayed a strength of character and commitment to one another that is still evident today. They did not waiver. This was Canada at its best. The Canadians at Vimy embodied the true north, strong and free.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge, and indeed the First World War, was not the only time that Canada found itself in the crucible of conflict. While Canada’s bloodiest conflict was the First World War, it was not nearly our longest.

Colleagues, I address you now as a veteran of Canada’s longest conflict: Canada’s military operation in Afghanistan.

Just over 10 years ago, the Maple Leaf was lowered for the last time in Kabul, Afghanistan. While Canada — and the world — pauses every September 11 to remember, how many of you actually paused on March 12?

Colleagues, 158 Canadian soldiers, sailors and aviators fell over the course of 13 years of our military operations in Afghanistan. This includes Master Corporal Kristal Lee-Anne Giesebrecht, a medical technician from 1 Canadian Field Hospital — one of four Canadian women to die in combat.

In addition, one Canadian diplomat and six Canadian civilians were also killed. We must also never forget that more than 2,000 Canadians came home permanently wounded or injured. Sadly, these statistics do not include those who were haunted by their own personal demons, and who have succumbed to their physical and mental wounds at home since then.

Colleagues, when someone has worn the maple leaf — whether on the uniform of the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Vimy in 1917, or the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan — those brave men and women embodied all it represented. Around the world, Canada and that maple leaf were — and are — seen as a beacon of security, stability and, above all, hope. Those who served in both of these wars represented the best of this huge country and pushed Canada onto the international stage through their sacrifice.

Honourable senators, in closing, I want to bring you back to modern day Vimy Ridge. On April 9, 2007, at the unveiling of the refurbished Vimy Memorial, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II said:

To their eternal remembrance, to Canada, to all who would serve the cause of freedom, and to those who have lost their lives in Afghanistan, I rededicate this magnificently restored [Vimy] memorial.

May they all rest in peace. We will remember them.