LIVE UPDATES: Canada marks Remembrance Day with ceremonies honouring veterans, fallen soldiers

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Good morning. I'm J.P. Tasker, a reporter in the parliamentary bureau.

Remembrance Day is one of the most important days on Gov. Gen. Mary Simon's calendar — she is the commander in chief of our armed forces after all. But unfortunately, she's in hospital today due to a respiratory virus. Rideau Hall tells us she's doing well.

The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Richard Wagner, who is also the designated deputy Governor General, will step in for her today at the ceremony at the National War Memorial. He will accompany Nancy Payne, this year's Silver Cross Mother.

As war raged in Europe during the Second World War, Halifax played a key role in ensuring the Allied nations’ success through a key mission you’ve probably never heard of.

Operation Fish involved a series of naval ships transporting Britain's wealth to safety in Canada to safeguard it in the event the British Isles were overcome militarily by the Nazis.

If that happened, British prime minister Winston Churchill expected that if the war continued, “it would be continued by the Empire countries, the Commonwealth, including of course Canada," said Paul Doerr, a professor of history at Acadia University.

"That's why the gold reserves moved out, to enable those countries to carry on the war, to finance the war."

The mission saw the naval ships carrying British gold and securities transported through the Halifax harbour, before the assets made their way to the Bank of Canada vaults in Ottawa.

Saturday marked Indigenous Veterans Day across Canada, a day that not only honours the contributions and sacrifices of the thousands of First Nations, Métis and Inuit who served in the Canadian Armed Forces, but serves as a way to acknowledge the injustices and discrimination they faced during and after military service.

It was first observed in Winnipeg on Nov. 8, 1993, in response to an incident two years earlier where Indigenous veterans were prohibited from placing a wreath at the national Remembrance Day ceremony.

On Nov. 11, 1991, a group of Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) veterans attempted to lay a wreath during the national ceremony in Ottawa but were refused. They were also prohibited from laying wreaths at cenotaphs or entering Legion halls to celebrate with fellow soldiers.

Though Indigenous veterans were eventually allowed to take part in the annual ceremony, Indigenous Veterans Day continues to be marked every Nov. 8 around the country.

You can read more about Indigenous Veterans Day here.

Each year on this day, a wreath is laid on the National War Memorial by a mother who has been bestowed with the Memorial Cross medal, also known as the Silver Cross. The medal is given to someone whose child has died while serving in the military — to mark their personal loss and sacrifice.

Nancy Payne of Lansdowne, Ont., was chosen by the Royal Canadian Legion this year for the honour.

Payne’s son Randy was killed in action in Afghanistan on April 22, 2006, when a roadside bomb struck the military G-Wagon he was in. He is survived by his wife, Jody, and two young children, according to a bio on the legion’s website. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2003.

Nancy’s husband, David, and son Chris also served with the Canadian Army, and their extended family has a long history of military service.

Hi, I’m Sarah Petz, a writer based in Toronto.

The national Remembrance Day events start at about 10:30 a.m. ET when veterans begin their march through downtown Ottawa, while dignitaries — including the prime minister, Governor General and Silver Cross Mother — begin arriving at the National War Memorial for the start of the ceremony.

The ceremony includes the national anthem, two minutes of silence at 11 a.m., a 21-gun salute and a wreath-laying ceremony.

Afterward, people are encouraged to remove the red poppies from their coats and place them on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is next to the war memorial.

Good morning, everyone. I’m a senior writer on the national desk.

Chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault is hosting special coverage of the national Remembrance Day ceremony from Ottawa starting at 10 a.m. ET. You can watch the coverage in the video above, and an ASL interpretation is available here.

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