Snow dusted the heads of hundreds gathered in front of the Old City Hall cenotaph in Toronto on Monday as Canadians marked the 100th Remembrance Day to honour veterans and those who continue to serve the country today.Despite the frosty weather, Queen Street at Bay Street was flooded with people wearing bright red poppies on their coats, watching the ceremony unfold with a veterans’ parade march, a moment of silence and words of remembrance.“This morning we take the time to pause and remember the commitment and the sacrifice of all those who supported the Canadian military efforts from the front lines to the home front during the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and in other places around the world,” Mayor John Tory said in a speech to the crowd.Remembrance Day, originally called Armistice Day, was first observed in 1919 throughout former British colonies to mark the armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Nov. 11, 1918, at 11 a.m. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Canadians observe two minutes of silence to remember both the lives lost and the lives forever changed by war. On Monday, veteran Levi Samson Beardy read the “Commitment to Remember” in Oji-Cree during a ceremony that also included both the Canadian and British national anthems, a prayer and a hymn, and a reading of John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields.” “In Toronto it has been our blessing to be joined by many residents who have taken refuge from war and conflict and who have become our neighbours and our friends. They know all about sacrifice in the name of freedom and respect for human rights,” Tory said in his remarks.As the ceremony wrapped up, Lt.-Cmdr. Amardeep Singh of the Royal Canadian Navy said he wanted to attend to honour the sacrifices of those who have served for their country, including people he served alongside, good fr ...
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