Remembrance Day Ceremony at Cenotaph in Ottawa

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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In order to remember and respect Canada’s departed soldiers on Remembrance Day, hundreds convened at the National War Memorial under wet snow and blowing winds in Ottawa. Majority of audience included retired veterans in wheelchairs, who sat there in the cold weather covered with blue Royal Canadian Legion blankets, while current military members proudly wore their brass. Snow kept falling until it was time for those gathered to join the Ottawa Children’s Choir in singing the national anthem.

In line of official proceedings, silver cross mother, Niki Psiharis, from Laval, Que., laid a wreath at the memorial, which made her one of the six Quebec mothers to ever do so in the 60 years of the tradition. Psiharis’s youngest son, Sgt. Chris Karigiannis, departed on June 20, 2007, in result of an improvised explosive device that struck his vehicle about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City in Afghanistan. He was scheduled to return home in less than two months later. The ceremony also included formal events during which Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Gov. Gen. David Johnston and the Canadian Armed Forces Champlain also laid wreaths at the memorial.

The ceremony was carefully observed and witnessed by a large crowd of schoolchildren, all of whom had gathered with poppies pinned to their winter jackets. According to a group of Grade 10 students from Oakville, their presence in Ottawa and chance to indulge with veterans has helped them in understanding what war and sacrifice are.

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