By Doug Clovechok

Let us never forget so that we will always remember, to honour and say thank you to all the women and men who answered a call of duty that put them in harm’s way so that each of us might enjoy peace, freedom and democracy.

November 11 is a somber yet proud day when we stand together across this country to pay tribute to the names of those etched in stone cenotaphs who gave their lives in the service of this great country and this great province.

They were daughters and sons, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles and friends who did not seek conflict but rose quickly when asked to defend our values and our ideals.

Members of our Armed Forces – past and present – routinely put their lives on the line for our country. They represent the very best of what it means to be Canadian and the very best of what it means to be a British Columbian.

As Canadians and British Columbians we are so very grateful for this very special place we all call home; a home that values freedom on so many levels and where differences are settled with ballots and not bullets and where tolerance binds us together and fear does not tear us apart.

So on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th of this month I ask that we all join our hearts in remembrance of those who gave all they had and all that they might have become so that we could be free.

Let us continue to honour them as they “hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.” – Henry Ward Beecher

– Doug Clovechok is Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA

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