June 6th, 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the battle for Normandy. The Premier rose yesterday (the last day the Legislature sat before the anniversary) to deliver a Ministerial Statement to commemorate this historic event. I responded to this Ministerial statement and reproduce the video and text of this response below.

Video of my Statement

Text of my Statement

A. Weaver: I rise to echo the compelling words of the Premier. His passion and heartfelt words were very inspiring.

As we know, on June 6 it will be the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. D-Day was one of the most well-known and important events of the Second World War, and Canadians played a critical role in this pivotal campaign. It changed the direction of the war, but it came at a terrible cost.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched a massive attack, with 7,000 vessels being used, 4,000 bombers and 3,700 fighter planes. More than 450 members of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion were amongst the very first to engage the enemy forces. A few hours later, 14,000 Canadian troops from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade would land on Juno Beach, braving heavy fire for the Canadian soldiers, who were successful in capturing their shoreline positions and who endured some of the worst fighting over the next several days of the Normandy invasion.

Canadians suffered the highest casualties of any divisions in the British Army Group during the campaign, and 359 Canadians died on D-Day itself. More than 5,000 would die in the ten weeks of fighting that followed. More than 13,000 Canadian soldiers were severely wounded during this time. Mental and physical injuries that many would carry for the rest of their lives also occurred. More than one million Canadians would serve in the Second World War, and over 45,000 would lose their lives.

I stand today in humble recognition of their sacrifice, and I ask all members of this House to never forget the freedoms we have and the society we have come to enjoy. But this has come at a high cost.