By Hugo Rodrigues
Organizers for this year’s Remembrance Day ceremonies guarantee that the only noticeable difference will be the smaller cenotaph and the larger lawn.
The ceremonies scheduled to take place on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m., have been moved to the lawn of Parliament Hill for this year and next year due to construction on the Plaza bridge.
The Remembrance Day ceremonies are usually held at the National War Memorial, but it is currently right in the middle of a construction zone. Parliament Hill is also surrounded by construction on all sides.
Bob Butt, who works at the Royal Canadian Legion’s dominion command, insists the relocation will not create any problems for those veterans or other members of the public wishing to attend the ceremonies.
Butt says the dominion command unit has asked all branches of the legion to tell their members about the change in venue.
No one will be stationed on the Plaza bridge to redirect people who are unaware of the change to Parliament Hill.
To re-create the symbolism of the cenotaph on the bridge, Public Works and Government Services commissioned a temporary monument that was completed earlier this year and has already been used six times at various military commemoration ceremonies.
The structure will be set up one day prior to Nov. 11 and taken down the day after the ceremonies.
Gerry Wharton, director of ceremonial and protocol services, describes the temporary cenotaph as being smaller than the permanent one, but it is similar in motif to ones that were used before the war memorial’s construction in 1939.
Made out of 40 painted plywood sections resembling granite that fit together like a puzzle, the tombstone-like cenotaph stands at about half the size of the permanent structure.
Wharton also insists that aside from the change in venue and cenotaph, “the layout will be exactly the same as in previous years, with the children’s choir and delegates in the same spots.”
Both Butt and Wharton refer to how First World War armistice day ceremonies were always held on Parliament Hill. “In essence, we’re using our roots as our backup,” says Butt.
Celebrants should not become too comfortable on the Hill, as construction around the National War Memorial should be complete by Dec. 1999.