Veterans groups glad to see return of public Remembrance Day ceremonies across Manitoba

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, members of the public will be back at Winnipeg's RBC Convention Centre for Remembrance Day services this Friday.

The service, typically the largest in Winnipeg, will be "back to normal," said Armand Lavallee, chair of the Joint Veterans Association of Manitoba.

Organizers are hoping to see high attendance, after the cancellation of the service in 2020 and 2021 made it feel "like something was missing," said Lavallee.

Past ceremonies at the convention centre have drawn upwards of 5,000 people.

This year, veteran Ralph Wild, 104, will be laying a wreath. Wild, who served in Britain's Royal Air Force, used to attend a Remembrance Day service in England every year, Lavallee said, but came to the Joint Veterans Association four years ago at age 100.

Devin Beaudry is a retired Roayl Canadian Air Force sergeant, the Manitoba director of the Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones and a member of the Indigenous Veterans Of Manitoba. He is also a Joint Veterans Association organizer.

He said Remembrance Day marks a time for "everyone to take that moment to remember those who lost their lives, those who fought for Canada, for Turtle Island."

"They continue to sacrifice, they continue to volunteer to wear that uniform and go into those conflicts to ensure that we have that freedom of choice," said Beaudry.

With fewer living veterans of the two world wars every year, conversations around Remembrance Day are changing, he said, focusing more on recent conflicts Canada has been involved in, including those in Afghanistan, the Balkans and Iraq.

"The thoughts are still there — the remembrance is still there … of the sacrifices that the men and women gave for this country."

Doors for the RBC Convention Centre's Remembrance Day service will open at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, and the public is asked to be seated by 10:30 a.m. The service begins at 10:40 a.m.

Cindy Stumme, a past president at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 3 in Brandon, says Friday's service at the city's Keystone Centre will be the first full ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

"Last year was just kind of coming out slow after the pandemic, and this year we really hope to be back with the full service as we've done it in past years ... with full participation," Stumme said.

The ceremony will include CFB Shilo's 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery and 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Four cadet corps will also be in attendance.