Remarks by
The Honourable Anita Neville, P.C., O.M.
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
WINNIPEG 150 CANDLELIGHT CONCERT AND SERVICE
Brookside Cemetery
Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 6:00 p.m.
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Fellow Manitobans, veterans and family members, people united in gratitude and remembrance, it is an honour to join you for this very special evening.
As Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, I first acknowledge that we are gathered on Treaty 1 territory and that Manitoba is located on the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Anishininew (ANISH-IN-INEW), Cree, Dakota, Dene and Nehetho (NE-HET-HO) Nation; that Manitoba is located on the homeland of the Red River Métis; and that northern Manitoba includes lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
We have come to pay our respects to more than 10,000 members of the Canadian Armed forces – interred in this cemetery – one of Canada’s largest and oldest fields of honour and a national historic site.
In this candlelight service, we pay tribute to those who died defending Canada and its values and to those who served Canada in war or in peace and lived out their lives.
Whatever the circumstances of their lives and deaths and the insignias of rank they bore, they now rest side by side, united by the simple granite markers of the field of honour.
That equality reminds us of what unite these 10,000 souls. Each served our country and each selflessly took on the danger and challenges that comes with that.
This year’s candlelight service marks three significant anniversaries.
In June, Canada commemorated the 80th anniversary of D-Day. In April, we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Canadian Air Force. And all this year, we have been celebrating the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Winnipeg.
The men and women interred here represent the history of our city and province, the history of Canada’s military trials and triumphs and our growth and development as a nation.
It is said that a nation is more than just a collection of people living within particular boundaries under a system of laws and government.
A nation is a conversation between the living, the dead and the not-yet-born. The Canada we live in is in large part the product of previous generations, including those buried here. And in our actions today, we must always think of those who will live here after us
A place like this field of honour provides us with an opportunity to listen to those who cannot speak. At Brookside Cemetery we can hear their voices, if we listen with our hearts.
As your Lieutenant Governor and a very grateful Manitoban, I thank you for coming tonight and wish you well as you open your ears, minds and hearts to the voices of all those we remember tonight. And I thank all of those who make this important service of remembrance possible.
Thank you. Merci. Meegwich. Shalom
