The final act of the Remembrance Day service in Thamesville participants asked to place their poppies in front of Cenotaph. Nov. 11, 2015. (Photo by Simon Crouch)The final act of the Remembrance Day service in Thamesville participants asked to place their poppies in front of Cenotaph. Nov. 11, 2015. (Photo by Simon Crouch)
Chatham

Ontario Observes Week Of Remembrance

In Ontario, the seven days leading up to November 11th have been enshrined into law as Remembrance Week.

Progressive Conservative MPP Monte McNaughton says the bill passed with unanimous consent at Queen's Park.

"It's really interesting and it's amazing to see when all parties and all MPPs work together how quickly a bill can pass," says McNaughton, the MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. "All members of the Progressive Conservatives, the Liberals, and the NDP pushed this bill through without any debate."

With the bill taking effect immediately, having already been granted royal assent from the lieutenant governor, the province's first official Remembrance Week begins today.

McNaughton says there are more than 30 ceremonies and memorial sights honouring local veterans that he'll be attending this week throughout the riding.

Ultimately, he says, it'll be up to community groups to plan events in the week leading up to Remembrance Day services.

"But when you look at our communities right across Ontario, and right across Canada, there are just so many more people that attend Remembrance Week services," he says. "Instead of just celebrating on Remembrance Day, which this bill definitely highlights Remembrance Day still, it just expands that."

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