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MONTREAL – Private Martine Roy was only 20 years old in 1984 when she was arrested, interrogated and dismissed from the Canadian Armed Forces for being what was then termed a “sexual deviant.”

After fighting for the right to be recognized as a veteran, she laid a wreath at Montreal’s Remembrance Day ceremony Monday on behalf of survivors of the wave of persecution that has become known as the LGBT Purge.

“I was arrested twice, then sent to a psychiatrist and then finally dismissed,” she said of her experience. “That was really, really hard for me.”

Roy was one of the lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that led to a $145-million settlement and a 2017 federal apology for decades of discrimination against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

According to the website of the LGBT Purge Fund, between the 1950s and mid-1990s, LGBTQ+ members of the Armed Forces, the RCMP and the federal public service were followed, interrogated, abused, traumatized and often fired “as a matter of policy and sanctioned practice.”

Roy, a Montreal native, enlisted in 1983 to become a medical assistant. After a stint in Quebec she was sent to Borden, Ont., where she was arrested the first time after someone found out she was dating women as well as men.

While she was allowed to finish her course and move to the now-closed National Defence Medical Centre in Ottawa, she was arrested a second time and discharged in December 1984.

She said her removal from the Armed Forces at such a young age affected every aspect of her life, and she struggled for years with shame, drug use and fear that she would be subjected to further discrimination in the workplace.

“I was 20, I didn’t know if I was gay or not. I don’t think it was important at that moment,” she said. “So kicking me out like this, I didn’t want to tell anybody. I was ashamed.”

She said the trauma went so deep that she didn’t return to Ottawa until 2014. For years, she and others like her weren’t recognized as veterans at all.

Over time, Roy went on to have a stable career and became an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and better inclusion in the workplace. She began to feel like the federal government’s decision to reverse its official policy of discrimination in 1992 wasn’t enough.

That’s when she got involved in the class action and, later, as a board member for the LGBT Purge Fund. In 2023, she was appointed a member of the Order of Canada for her decades of advocacy for diversity, inclusion and equity.

On Monday, under drizzly skies, Roy joined Premier François Legault and other dignitaries who gathered at a downtown square for Montreal’s Remembrance Day ceremony. She laid a wreath on behalf of LGBTQ+ veterans alongside fellow purge survivor Peggy Hayes.

Roy said attending Remembrance Day ceremonies allows her to feel like a part of the military as a veteran, and to commemorate others who had similar experiences but are no longer living.

Laying wreaths is meaningful, she said, “because we are important, and the queer people that fought for Canada are important.”

She said that for many purge survivors, memories of service is “kind of a double thing:” a mixture of pride over serving their country, and the knowledge that they were let go for something that had nothing to do with skills.

“We did that to over 9,000 people,” she said of the purge. “We destroyed their family and their life, so this is why today is so important.”

She said some of the money from the court settlement is being used for initiatives that honour the contribution of Canada’s LGBTQ+ veterans, including a monument in Ottawa dedicated to purge survivors. The LGBT Purge Fund is also collecting and preserving records of the purge, working on an exhibition at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg and making recommendations on how to improve LGBTQ+ inclusion in the public service.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.

OTTAWA – An echoing peal of cannon fire signalled the start of a moment of silence Monday in St. John’s, N.L., and throngs of people along the city’s two main downtown streets fell quiet and bowed their heads.

Across Canada, dignitaries marked Remembrance Day by laying wreaths at ceremonies, schoolchildren sang in the late fall chill and veterans recalled the horrors of battle.

Canadians gathered in cities and towns to honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country’s values and principles.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon paid their respects in a ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

They were joined by this year’s Silver Cross Mother, Maureen Anderson of New Brunswick, whose two sons served in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Ron Anderson and Sgt. Ryan Anderson each died after a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Their mother represented all the mothers left behind by service members killed in the line of duty.

The mournful sound of the Last Post was heard at cenotaphs and monuments as Canadians took a moment at 11 a.m. to pay silent respects to the fallen.

“Throughout our history, the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces have kept our country safe,” Trudeau said in a social media post before the Ottawa ceremony.

“Some returned home from the battlefield and were never the same. Others never returned at all. It is a debt we can never repay, and one we will never forget.”

Veterans Affairs Canada estimates the current Canadian war veteran population at 7,300 people — 6,142 men and 1,158 women — based on 2021 census data.

Royal Canadian Legion president Berkley Lawrence, 70, said the day gives people a “chance to remember what happened, how we get our freedom today.”

It was the first Remembrance Day in St. John’s to be held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The soldier fought and died in France during the First World War, and was reinterred in Newfoundland this year.

Sculptor Morgan MacDonald, who made the bronze forget-me-not flowers that decorate the tomb, said it was an honour to be given such important work.

Joanne Geddes, district commander of the Nova Scotia and Nunavut legions, said she was touched to see how many people of all ages turned up despite wind and rain at the cenotaph in Halifax’s Grand Parade.

Hearing the bands play and the cannons ring out brought on chills, Geddes said. “I get goosebumps. I well up. It’s emotional in a good way, in a sad way.”

Paul Baiden, who served during the Cold War era, said he was thinking of mates from aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure “and everybody, basically, that lost their lives.”

“Every day my group gets smaller,” he said in Ottawa as a tear formed in his eye. “From our crew … there’s maybe 20 of us left.”

In the national capital, the sunny sky turned grey and light rain fell, matching the solemn mood.

Ninety-eight-year-old John Preece, who was a private in the Second World War, said it is difficult to explain what it’s like to be in combat. “When you face somebody shooting at you, and you don’t even know them and they don’t know you. And it’s not very nice, and that’s all I can say. It’s really a terrible scene.”

John Young, a retired chief warrant officer, asked that Canadians think of troops in Latvia who have left behind spouses and children — and all the high school and kindergarten graduations they will miss.

“This is the commitment that people who wear the uniform have agreed to willingly,” said Young, 66.

“I reflect on my own mother. I have no idea of the angst that she went through when both my brother and I were deployed at the same time. In her later years, she said, ‘I didn’t sleep when you guys were gone.'”

Each cannon boom from a 21-gun salute set off a wave of car alarms in Montreal during a ceremony held in English, French and occasionally Mohawk.

Matthew Krisko-MacCormack brought a photo of his grandfather, First World War veteran Joseph MacCormack. He said he was thinking of people like his grandfather, who left his small P.E.I. farming community to defend home and country, and who later died as a result of injuries he suffered overseas.

Honorary Lt.-Gen. Richard Rohmer helped lead ceremonies at the Ontario Veterans’ Memorial outside Queen’s Park in Toronto.

The 100-year-old Rohmer told the crowd about his role helping to end the Second World War as a reconnaissance fighter pilot, taking out a key bridge in the Netherlands that trapped German forces in May 1945.

Unable to cross the river, the Germans surrendered, he recalled.

“I’m just lucky to be alive.”

In Edmonton, an 11-piece pipe band’s rendition of “Highland Cathedral” echoed through city hall.

Remembrance Day “is not just about speeches,” said Lt.-Col. Bryn Wright, commanding officer of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment.

“It’s about reflection on where we came from and what our history is, and it’s about remembering those who served and fell and remembering those who continue to serve.”

Neil Dancer, a retired corporal who spent time in Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, said he was heartened to see a lot of young people turn out Monday in Victoria.

Military service has taken a toll on Dancer, but he looks ahead to better days. “I have my challenges with mental health, like a lot of veterans do, but I can’t complain. I have a lot of friends who are in worse situations and shape than I am.”

Among those gathered at the Victory Square Cenotaph in Vancouver was Percival Smith, 101, a veteran of the British Merchant Navy who said he was “all over the place” during the Second World War.

“I went in as a boy at 17 and came out as a man at 22,” he said. “The world was quite different.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.

— With files from Sarah Smellie in St. John’s, N.L., Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax, Morgan Lowrie in Montreal, Liam Casey in Toronto, Kyle Duggan and David Baxter in Ottawa, Aaron Sousa in Edmonton, Darryl Greer in Vancouver and Dirk Meissner in Victoria

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version identified Richard Rohmer as a former lieutenant governor.

The exterior of police stations will soon look different in Surrey, B.C.

New signs have been ordered to reflect a transfer of policing responsibility to the municipal Surrey Police Service from the RCMP, after six years of planning and political turmoil.

On Nov. 29, the municipal service becomes the police force of jurisdiction in British Columbia’s second most populous municipality, while the Mounties take on what’s expected to be a years-long supporting role.

But there’s still no formal agreement on how responsibilities will be split between the two forces with less than three weeks to go before the transition becomes official.

Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski said Friday that meetings between his office and the RCMP happen multiple times a week as they work out the finer points of the deal, which he is confident will be signed “in a matter of days.”

“We’re putting those pieces together to get us to a place where public safety is not going to be compromised in Surrey, I’m very, very confident about that. It will not be compromised. There’s enough overlap, there’s enough people, there’s enough equipment,” he said.

The head of the RCMP’s union said its officers are committed to public safety in Surrey, but members are anxious about being so close to the handover without a clear understanding of what their jobs will look like.

Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation, said RCMP members haven’t been told what’s going to happen after the transition and since each police service has its own policies and procedures there could be challenges.

“I think, generally speaking, (people are feeling) anxious, uncertain, concerned, knot in stomach, if you will. Mainly because nobody knows what’s happening,” he said.

Lipinski would not go into specifics about the agreement that is being worked on, but said the two forces are essentially dividing up Surrey geographically with the RCMP responsible for some areas and the Surrey Police Service in charge of others.

“We will start with geography and certain areas, and they will start with their geography. Then what happens is, as we build up and they scale down, we take over more of their geography. We’ve got a plan for that. It makes total sense,” he said.

Lipinski said the Surrey Police Service has 455 members and will need 785 to take over from the RCMP completely. He said he expects it to take another two to three years to get the force up to full strength.

While policing in Surrey has been managed by the RCMP, Surrey Police Service officers have been working alongside them since 2021 while a dispute over the transition played out in municipal and provincial politics.

In November 2018, after winning his third term as mayor of Surrey, Doug McCallum put forward a motion at his first council meeting to create a municipal police force in the community of nearly 600,000 people 35 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.

By 2021 the first officers had been deployed. But the next year Brenda Locke defeated McCallum to become the new mayor, promising to reverse the transition and putting her on a collision course with Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, who continued to support the power transfer.

The dispute was often heated, with Farnworth accusing the city of playing games and Locke accusing the minister of bullying and misogyny.

Locke declined a request to be interviewed for this story.

In the end, Farnworth used his authority to force the city to move forward with the Surrey Police Service, and the municipality lost a bid to have the decision reversed by the B.C. Supreme Court.

Sauvé said that legally the Mounties can’t work under a municipal police force, a situation commonly referred to as “red under blue,” which is why having an agreement on responsibilities is so important.

He said there would be “no shame” in the Nov. 29 deadline being pushed back to give both sides more time.

“What does Nov. 30 look like? I think the City of Surrey is going to be safe. The membership of the RCMP will do their job,” he said.

“How that looks, and the nitty gritty of what that looks like, obviously, I’m very, very curious to see the details. And it has been underwhelming with respect to how much has been relayed to us,” he said.

Lipinski said he is confident things will be ready for Nov. 29.

He said “there’s nothing super onerous about having two chains of command” and while there may be “unforeseen circumstances” he’s optimistic the two sides will be able to work through them.

“There will not be any public safety risk, and there will be business continuity as we move forward and as we evolve. And, of course, there will be things that you have to do thereafter because you didn’t have the time to do it before,” he said.

“It’s like building a house, and sometimes you move in and you have to do some of the other elements, such as painting and so forth and so on. But it’s there. The structure is there and we’re ready to go.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.