2005
- The Year of the Veteran
The year 2005
has been declared the Year of the Veteran, and I want to honour our veterans
through this tribute on my website.
On Friday
July, 22nd I had the privilege of attending the Year of the Veteran Flag
raising at the York Region Police Headquarters. The following poem
was handed to me by Veteran Angus MacDonald, and after reading it I told
Angus that I wanted to share these words with my constituents by posting
it on my website. He agreed, and I want to thank him and Jodie Johnson,
who wrote this poem in 1996 at the age of 11.
WHO
ARE THESE MEN?
Who are
these men
Who
march so proud,
Who
quietly weep,
Eyes
closed, head bowed?
These
are the men
Who
once were boys,
Who
missed out on youth,
And
all its joys.
Who
are these men
With aged faces?
Who
silently count
The
emply spaces?
These
are the men
Who
gave their all,
Who
fought for their country,
For
freedom for all.
Who
are these men
With
sorrowful look,
Who still remember
The
lives that were took?
These
are the men
Who
saw young men die,
The
price of peace is always high.
Who
are these men,
Who,
in the midst of pain,
Whispered
comfort to those
They
would not see again?
These are the men
Whose
hand held tomorrow,
Who
brought back our future
With
blood, tears and sorrow.
Who
are these men
Who
promise to keep
Alive
in their hearts
The
ones God holds asleep?
These
are the men
To
whom I promise again,
Veterans,
my friends
I
will remember them!
by Jodie Johnson , May 19, 1996
(age 11)
I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those Canadians who
served during World War I and II; the Korean War; veterans of the Canadian
Forces and serving Canadian Forces members; nursing sisters, medical and
support personnel and clergy who cared for veterans; civilians who served
in close support of the military; and Canadians who supported the war
effort on the home front.
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new Veterans' Memorial currently under construction will
be the first new monument to be built on the grounds of Queen's
Park in 65 years. A permanent memorial to Canada's veterans
and peacekeepers on the grounds of Ontario's Legislative Building.
It will consist of a 100-foot-long granite wall etched with scenes
form Canada's war history and inscribed with text. The monument
is to be completed in 2006
While he
was Minister of Transportation, Frank was proud to honour our veterans
by initiating and commissioning the "Veterans Licence Plate",
now available to all Ontario qualifying veterans.
York
Region Police Honours
War
Veterans During Year of the Vet
Flag-raising
July 22, 2005
Veterans
Affairs Canada
click
here
Royal
Canadian Legion
Klees opposes
Bill 164, which bans
smoking
in Legions:
"We
have veterans in this province who now attend their Legions, and
it's against the law, according to this government, for them to
smoke. These are veterans in my riding of Oak Ridges who were willing
to lay down their lives for people in this country so that we could
have freedom, we could have rights, and this government now has
the audacity to reach into their own private space in their Legions
and say, "You know what? It doesn't matter that you're mature. It
doesn't matter what you've done for our country. We're going to
tell you how to live your life." That's fundamentally wrong. That's
why I'm opposed to this. It's the principle of telling individual
citizens that their rights are being taken away by this government.
". . . said Frank Klees.
For complete
Hansard Record
May 31,
2005 click here
News Release
click here
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