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Sovereigntists in Montreal hold their own ceremony to mark Remembrance Day
Les Perreaux, Canadian Press, 12 Nov 06
Article Link
The road to the cenotaph through the immense cemetery on Mount Royal was lined with blue Quebec flags Saturday with nary a Maple Leaf in sight as sovereigntists and war veterans marked Remembrance Day.
Braving frigid temperatures and a pouring rain, vets in their 80s, cadets, Quebec politicians and a handful of civilians gathered to lay wreaths at the ceremony organized by the nationalist Societe St-Jean-Baptiste.
Organizers played a song of peace by sovereigntist singer Raymond Levesque instead of the usual O Canada.
While the ceremony seemed inherently political, those gathered said the sacrifice of Quebec and Canadian soldiers on the international scene transcends nationalist politics and the skirmishes of Canadian unity.
Jean Trempe, an 81-year-old who stormed the beaches of Normandy, said he was touched to be invited to mark November 11 with a group that might not share his love of Canada.
"They invited me here and I don't care if it's the Lions Club of Winnipeg or St-Jean-Batiste in Montreal," Trempe said in French after showing off the medal given to him by the Quebec legislature.
"Me, I'm Canadian, but for me these issues of nationalism and language are secondary. I think it's just a beautiful thing that they're honouring us. We risked our lives for $1.30 a day."
The St-Jean-Batiste group started their own ceremony in the late 1990s after they were shunned two years running by the Montreal legion. The Parti Quebecois government of the day adopted the ceremony but the Liberals continued the tradition of attending and handing out medals after taking power in 2003.
"There's nothing anti-Canadian about that ceremony, but it's not particularly Canadian either," said Jean Dorion, president of the society. "This marks universal values and the people who participated were of all ideological persuasions."
PQ Leader Andre Boisclair attends Remembrance Day ceremonies every year with his father, Marc-Andre Boisclair, who served in the Navy in the Second World War.
His father stayed home this year because of the bone-chilling weather, Boisclair said.
"I think it's my duty to remember, but it means that much more that my father was there and lost friends," Boisclair said.
Dorion, Boisclair and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said the day of remembrance and the fight for freedom and democracy transcend questions of politics, including Quebec's national aspirations.
"We're living on the same planet," Duceppe said. "We're acting in solidarity. Those who lost their lives lost them for democracy. It's international solidarity. We have a lot of values in common."
Sovereigntists in Montreal hold their own ceremony to mark Remembrance Day
Les Perreaux, Canadian Press, 12 Nov 06
Article Link
The road to the cenotaph through the immense cemetery on Mount Royal was lined with blue Quebec flags Saturday with nary a Maple Leaf in sight as sovereigntists and war veterans marked Remembrance Day.
Braving frigid temperatures and a pouring rain, vets in their 80s, cadets, Quebec politicians and a handful of civilians gathered to lay wreaths at the ceremony organized by the nationalist Societe St-Jean-Baptiste.
Organizers played a song of peace by sovereigntist singer Raymond Levesque instead of the usual O Canada.
While the ceremony seemed inherently political, those gathered said the sacrifice of Quebec and Canadian soldiers on the international scene transcends nationalist politics and the skirmishes of Canadian unity.
Jean Trempe, an 81-year-old who stormed the beaches of Normandy, said he was touched to be invited to mark November 11 with a group that might not share his love of Canada.
"They invited me here and I don't care if it's the Lions Club of Winnipeg or St-Jean-Batiste in Montreal," Trempe said in French after showing off the medal given to him by the Quebec legislature.
"Me, I'm Canadian, but for me these issues of nationalism and language are secondary. I think it's just a beautiful thing that they're honouring us. We risked our lives for $1.30 a day."
The St-Jean-Batiste group started their own ceremony in the late 1990s after they were shunned two years running by the Montreal legion. The Parti Quebecois government of the day adopted the ceremony but the Liberals continued the tradition of attending and handing out medals after taking power in 2003.
"There's nothing anti-Canadian about that ceremony, but it's not particularly Canadian either," said Jean Dorion, president of the society. "This marks universal values and the people who participated were of all ideological persuasions."
PQ Leader Andre Boisclair attends Remembrance Day ceremonies every year with his father, Marc-Andre Boisclair, who served in the Navy in the Second World War.
His father stayed home this year because of the bone-chilling weather, Boisclair said.
"I think it's my duty to remember, but it means that much more that my father was there and lost friends," Boisclair said.
Dorion, Boisclair and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said the day of remembrance and the fight for freedom and democracy transcend questions of politics, including Quebec's national aspirations.
"We're living on the same planet," Duceppe said. "We're acting in solidarity. Those who lost their lives lost them for democracy. It's international solidarity. We have a lot of values in common."
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