Remembrance Day Ceremony in Toronto

On November 4, several hundred people gathered in Toronto for a Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Ukrainian Canadian Memorial Park near the monument dedicated to Ukrainians of Canadian descent who sacrificed their lives in wars for Canada. The event was sponsored by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), Toronto Branch.

The program, emceed by George Serhijczuk, of the UCC, Toronto, consisted of a procession by veterans; a memorial service, with singing by the Orion Choir; and a wreath-laying ceremony by representatives of veterans’ organizations, the federal, provincial and city governments, Ukrainian-Canadian organizations and the Government of Ukraine.

Captain Ihor Kozak of the Canadian Armed Forces delivered a bilingual speech, in Ukrainian and English, in which he made references to the high participation rate of Canadians in the First and Second World Wars and the colossal numbers of Ukrainians lost in wars in the last century.

Federal Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj and Donna Cansfield, the Ontario Provincial Minister, who both represent the riding in which the Ukrainian Canadian Memorial Park is located, also spoke at the event.  Greetings were also delivered by City of Toronto Councillor Gloria Lindsay-Luby, Yakiv Perih, Consul of Ukraine in Toronto; Major General Volodymyr Artiuch, on behalf of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,  and Markian Shwec, President of UCC, Toronto.

The AvantGarde Orchestra drew the ceremony to a close with their rendition of God Save the Queen and the Ukrainian and Canadian anthems.