Gates to the Memorial Chambers, Grille de la Chapelle du Souvenir, Houses of Parliament, Ottawa, Ont. - Photo from the City of Yorkton Archival records - A booklet entitled IN MEMORIAM - "This is the heart of Canada. Here is embodied in stone the spirit of the people." The Memorial Chamber is dedicated to the memory of Canadians who have died in military service. It was designed out of a response to the profound devastation wrought by the First World War of 1914 to 1918, in which 61,000 Canadians were killed and 172,000 were wounded.
One hundred years later, on October 22, 2014 Canadians and the world witnessed an attack on Parliament Hill, when a gunman shot and fatally wounded a Canadian Forces member, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the national War memorial before being shot dead in the parliament Centre Block. (CBC News Web site.) Two days before on October 20, we witnessed the killing of another soldier, Patrice Vincent in Québec. They are remembered as good human beings with noble motives to serve. They will be forever remembered in our Memorial Chamber.
The world envies our democracy! We citizens of Canada need to protect it from any attempts at erosion of its principles. There have always been those who want to destroy what is beautiful.
Contact Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher,
City of Yorkton Archives,
Box 400, 37 Third Avenue North
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]
