Fangliang Xu, Centretown News
A heavily armed Ottawa police officer stands guard at the National War Memorial during Remembrance Day ceremonies.Thousands gathered under a heavy police presence at the National War Memorial to celebrate and honour Canadian soldiers in one of the largest Remembrance Day ceremonies in recent years.
The outpouring of support comes just three weeks after Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was murdered in uniform while he guarded the same memorial.
The ceremony took place on a clear and crisp morning as spectators packed against the security fence, starting from the road and spilling across the sidewalk to the Elgin Street storefronts. Approximately 50,000 people attended the event, according to Ottawa Police, who estimate that the ceremony usually draws a crowd of 35,000. On the other side of the fence, police in bright yellow vests skirt the ceremony, evenly spaced and watching the crowd.
“There weren’t nearly as many (police) last year, not to the same extent,” said Jeremy Wallis, a Canadian Forces veteran who says he has attended the ceremony many times. “How could anyone miss it?”
Atop nearly every major building surrounding the ceremony, including the Chateau Laurier, National Arts Centre, and the Government Conference Centre, police stood guard with sniper rifles and binoculars, watching the teeming crowd. Police were spotted on rooftops as far away as the Department of Defence Buildings, a half-kilometre away from the cenotaph.
Bill Maxwell, secretary of the Poppy and Remembrance Committee at the Royal Canadian Legion, says vigilant security is an important part of preparations for the large crowds they anticipated this year.
“As you expect, the site is secured, and there are entry points, and everyone needs to have the appropriate documentation to get into the VIP areas, where the dignitaries are,” says Maxwell. “It’s a larger crowd, so we’ll be just a little more vigilant with documentation and who’s allowed in.”
The larger crowds may stem from what has been an outpouring of support for Canadian soldiers this year. Maxwell says many Canadians are paying respect for the fallen soldiers on Canadian soil.
“There are more demands for passes, more demands for attendance, and more demands for poppies,” says Maxwell. “People are more aware of commemoration and the significance of remembrance.”
This country-wide show of support has been felt in Centretown as well.
“We’re probably busier than any branch, just because of where we’re located,” says Bruce Kane, Poppy Trust chairperson at Legion Branch #351, on Kent Street. “When Cirillo was shot that day, we were swamped with requests for poppies.”
Kane, along with the rest of the Centretown Legion branch, broke from tradition and began distributing poppies before November. Many other legion branches in Ontario and Quebec, faced with a similar demand for poppies, followed suit.
“We had the whole area done in two or three days. The army and everyone else helped out,” says Kane. “The public support has been just phenomenal.”
Hundreds of those poppies made their way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier following the ceremony, scattered on the surface by everyone from spectators to some of the last remaining Second World War veterans. Some of Canada’s most prominent dignitaries, including Prime Minister Stephen
Harper and Gov. Gen. David Johnson, laid wreaths by the monument, as well as visiting member of the Royal Family, Princess Anne.
“Nothing changes with the ceremony, it’s very much the standard remembrance ceremony,” says Maxwell, alluding to the timelessness of Remembrance Day. “What changes are the participants, from dignitaries to veterans.”
At the ceremony, Wallis surveys the crowd and agrees. “There’s more people, but fewer veterans.”