Their breath visible in the cold of morning, soldiers stood guard in Sir Winston Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton on Monday as wreaths were laid at the foot of the city hall cenotaph.
Hundreds of Edmontonians gathered to pay their Remembrance Day respects in the frigid cold.
From Beverly to the Butterdome, other ceremonies at cenotaphs, monuments and memorials across the capital region honoured the sacrifices made by Canadian veterans — and those who continue to serve today.
During the First World War, more than 66,000 Canadians died on the battlefields of Europe. More than 45,000 lost their lives during the Second World War.
Line Lamothe, whose grandfather served in the Second World War, attended the city hall ceremony.
“Remembrance Day for me is a day to give back to all of those that have given us freedom,” Lamothe said. “I can’t put into words the meaning behind it. It’s just a very personal thing.
“I think the more removed we get from wars, the more we tend to forget those who have fought for us, and we should never forget.”
Commanding Officer of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Jonathan McCully, led the procession.
“We come together in the interest of preserving the memory of those who have gone before, those who gave everything that had and their very lives so we could have this day and the days to come,” McCully said.
“So today I join with with you to remember that these men, these women, these families did not sacrifice in vain. Let us never take our freedom for granted and let us never forget.”
Hours earlier, thousands gathered for the national ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Julie Payette laid wreaths alongside this year’s Silver Cross Mother, Reine Samson Dawe. The youngest of of her four military sons, Captain Matthew Dawe, was killed in Afghanistan.
Dawe, 27, of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, was one of six Canadian soldiers killed in Kandahar in July 2007, along with an Afghan interpreter, when their armoured vehicle was struck by a powerful roadside bomb.
Dawe was one of the highest-ranking Canadian officers to die in Afghanistan at that point and was remembered afterward as a dedicated soldier and platoon commander.
Dawe was killed the same day his son, Lucas, turned two.
“I still remember having the thought on occasion: ‘Matthew, I’ve have been very good. I did everything I needed to do. Now you come back, please,'” Samson Dawe told CBC’s Ottawa Morning.
“Your head knows that he’s gone, but your heart doesn’t want to know.”