ANUSHKA YADAV

Master Warrant Officer Anthony Jones of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry adjusted his poppy pin as he remembered the rainy day that changed his life. 

The image of his friend, Warrant Officer Robert Wilson, being buried has stayed with Jones. He marched for his friend who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008. 

“Wilson and I always believed that serving your nation is one of the best things any human being can do,” Jones said. 

The snowy morning marked “100 years since Remembrance Day was first commemorated in the Commonwealth,” Todd Riley, Chaplain of the Toronto Fire Services, said in opening remarks. 

Toronto joined in a collective act of remembrance outside the Old City Hall to honour those who served in the two world wars, the Korean War, Afghanistan and on peacekeeping missions.

The 48th Highlanders of Canada mounted the vigil ceremony. And the Royal Canadian Mounted Police led the parade.

Following the piper’s lament, the rouse performed by Master Warrant Officer Darrin Hicks of the 7th Toronto Regiment Band echoed along Queen Street West and down Bay Street. 

However, the ceremony cancelled a fly-past by the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association due to Toronto’s biggest Remembrance Day snowfall since 1951.

Mayor John Tory thanked a D-Day veteran, Charles Scot-Brown for gracing the ceremony with his presence and reading the poem Act of Remembrance. 

The mayor expressed his gratitude to the thousands present today who stood together to honour the “commitment and sacrifice” of the fallen heroes. 

“Let us redouble our efforts to celebrate freedom, to respect and uphold each other's human rights, to eliminate discrimination and hatred in the discourse of our daily lives and to seek peace,” Tory said.

While listening to Tory’s address, Norma Lawrenson, an 88-year-old woman, recalled the Remembrance Day ceremony 10 years ago in the same location. 

“It was as painful as it is today. My dad served in the First World War while my husband and his brothers served in the Second World War,” she said.

“I have been coming here every year for the longest time I can remember. I remember them, always,” Lawrenson said with tears in her eyes. 

Lawrenson joined the gathering in singing the Royal Anthem in unison before the final parade. 

The Commitment to Remember poem was read in Oji-Cree by Levi Samson Beardy and also in French by Danielle-Mara Dunn, a student at École Secondaire Catholique Saint-Frère-André.

“We need to remember not just those who fell during the World Wars but also the ones who lost their lives in peacekeeping missions and recent conflicts of Afghanistan,” Lt. Col. (Retd.) Cliff Trollope of the PPCLI said. 

Trollope served for more than 20 years in the PPCLI while he spent the next three years as a commanding officer of the Royal Regiment of Canada in Toronto. 

The cenotaph was decorated with thousands of poppies after the march off. Before the gathering dispersed, many hugged their loved ones and shed tears for the lost ones.

“It’s personal and sometimes it gets difficult on this day. I have lost friends who have shaped my life and I am committed to attending the Remembrance Day ceremonies,” Jones said.

With memories refreshed in his mind, he put his poppy pin on the cenotaph honouring those “who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”