Remarks on the occasion of the opening of the Room of Remembrance

---

Speaker Regan, Minister Wilson-Raybould, fellow parliamentarians, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

We are gathered here this morning, in the new Visitor Welcome Centre, to mark the opening of the Room of Remembrance.

We do so against the backdrop of a move out of Centre Block and a new era in our parliamentary history, in the newly restored West Block and Senate of Canada Building.

Seeing the care that has been taken to move the Books of Remembrance, from the sacred Memorial Chamber to this beautiful location, cements what it is that Parliament represents.

No doubt there is a close association between the buildings of Parliament and the importance of our institution.

Place and duty become one and the same.

The daily Turning of the Page ceremony is a fixture of Parliament, one which binds our histories, traditions and common heritage.

Seeing the books here, and the diligent efforts undertaken to ensure that this tradition continues, underscores the fundamental significance of the practice. 

As the pages are turned each day at 11 o’clock, we remember how much we owe to those who lost their lives in combat.

For without their sacrifice, we would not be a free and democratic society.

Reading their names, we reflect on the people that they were – the lives they led, the lives they could have led, and the lives they laid down for our freedom.

And just as we as parliamentarians will continue to serve our country, we, along with all Canadians, will continue to steadfastly honour those whose sacrifices allow us to serve.

On October 1940, Sir Winston Churchill paid a very telling tribute to their sacrifice when he said,

“For the morning will come. Brightly will it shine on the brave and true, kindly upon all who suffer for the cause, glorious on the tombs of heroes. Thus will shine the dawn.”

And yesterday, as we closed the Memorial Chamber in the Centre Block,

that dawn shone bright on the peaceful demonstration that was taking place at the centennial flame, reminding us of the freedom and democracy for which they gave their lives.

Thank you.