Montreal lays wreath for Wainwright soldiers at cenotaph

A wreath honouring the four soldiers killed in last month’s fire at CFB Wainwright was laid at the foot of the Montreal Cenotaph on Wednesday as about 100 people gathered at Place du Canada for the city’s Remembrance Day ceremony.

A prayer for the Wainwright victims was read as cannon fire sounded over the square, The Canadian Press reported. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada laid a wreath on behalf of the city, and military aircraft flew over the ceremony.

A military parade was followed by the national anthem shortly before 11 a.m., as bells rang from nearby St. George’s Anglican Church, and a 21-gun salute sent flocks of birds into the sky, CP reported.

“Serving in the military is inherently risky. What happened in Wainwright last month is another reminder,” said retired Lt.-Col. Colin Robinson, who said he worries about how quickly global tensions can escalate.

Col. Lisa Pacarynuk, chaplain general of the Canadian Armed Forces, spoke of lives cut short and the lasting wounds of war. “Peace is precious,” she said, and “freedom must never be taken for granted.”

Pierre Saint-Louis, a navy and infantry veteran who became a lawyer, said remembrance should also mean supporting living veterans and the families of personnel serving overseas. As the ceremony ended shortly before noon, some people left their poppies at the base of the monument.

The four soldiers, Sgt. Morgan Wong, Pte. Shaun Farrell, Pte. Aidan Goulding and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, died on Oct. 17 when wind drove a grass fire across a training area. Read our earlier coverage of the fire. Elsewhere in Quebec, a pilot died in Saint-Georges after taking part in a Remembrance Day flypast. For other Montreal news, see our report on winter trailers at the city’s largest encampment.

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