Honourable colleagues, on Thursday, June 6, in communities across this country and, of course, around the world, people will come together to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day in 1944. It is a time to remember what service to country really means and those who risked it all for the freedoms we now enjoy.

On a personal note, the Legion in my hometown of Wadena, of which I am a proud member, will host an open house for elementary and high school students and members of the community to mark the day. It is a chance for the community, and especially the young people, to learn history in a very interactive way. That history is a proud one.

On June 6, 1944, more than 14,000 Canadian troops from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade came ashore on Juno Beach. They then pushed inland to take an important communications and transport centre.

It was a bloody and brutal battle, and victory in the Battle of Normandy came at a terrible cost. The Canadians suffered the highest casualties: 359 Canadians were killed on D-Day alone. More than 5,000 Canadians would die fighting in Normandy.

Canada’s impressive efforts in the Second World War remain a point of great national pride, even these many decades later. The brave ones who came ashore and saw action in France were among more than one million men and women from our country who served in the cause of peace and freedom.

Last week, I attended an event where the latest Heritage Minute, honouring Canada’s contributions in Normandy, was unveiled. And there to witness this story retold was a veteran of D-Day, Alex Polowin, a 94-year old from Ottawa who served on the HMCS Huron as part of the protective force in the English Channel during the invasion.

He was humble and proud of what he called a “small” contribution. It was not small. It was powerful, defining and it shaped the country we cherish today.

Earlier that day, he told me he had been in no fewer than four classrooms, still telling the story of young men like himself who fought valiantly — some who paid the ultimate price and those who came back home to build our nation.

Nothing could have stopped Alex from enlisting in the navy at the age of 17. Today, many young women and men are the same, joining the Canadian Armed Forces not knowing what’s in store but ready and willing to sacrifice and serve. We owe today’s men and women in uniform and yesterday’s heroes our undying respect and remembrance. Thank you.