On Parliament Hill

Last week I was both humbled and honoured to have the opportunity to recognize our Second World War Veterans right here in Provencher. Nine WWII veterans received a limited-edition commemorative lapel pin and a personalized certificate of recognition signed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs, recently launched this special tribute as a symbol of our country’s enduring gratitude to all those who served during this conflict.

As a grateful nation, it is our responsibility to remember all those who served our country during the Second World War—including the more than 45,000 Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice for our shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Some veterans unfortunately were not been able to attend for health or other reasons, and although we have done our best to identify Second World War veterans living here in Provencher, there may be others that we could not locate. In this regard, I ask for your help in identifying those other veterans, so that we can pay tribute to them as well, in a service at a later date.

Recipients at last week’s event included Melvin Edward Alexander, Gordon Jacob Barkman, Ross S Davies, Henry Fehler, Peter Hiebert Friesen, Lloyd Ernest Lehman, W. Lawrence McAllister, John Owczar and Richard F Sellen.

Recipients unable to attend were Walter S Jansson, Jan Michniewicz, Roy W Ormiston, Walter T Wood, Alex Tarasenko and Burt Guenther.

We are certainly very proud of our veterans. It is due to their remarkable contributions that our great nation remains strong and free.