Government of Canada and HMCS Haida Remember the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

HAMILTON, ON, June 6, 2014 /CNW/ - On behalf of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, paid tribute and took part in commemorations of the 70^th anniversary of D-Day at HMCS Haida National Historic Site. HMCS Haida, an authentic piece of Second World War history moored in Hamilton Harbour, was the perfect venue for the commemoration because of her role in safeguarding Allied Expeditionary Force D-Day convoys.

The ceremony was especially poignant and memorable thanks to guest speaker Ralph Frayne, Second World War Naval Veteran and original member of HMCS Haida's commissioning crew circa 1944. The ceremony featured a keepsake stone art project from local schools and the laying of carnations in the waters surrounding the ship.

Haida retired to become a well-loved national historic site. A full weekend of special and innovative activities will take place at HMCS Haida on June 6-8 to commemorate D-Day, and the bravery and sacrifice of the Canadians who served.

Quick Facts
About D-Day

• One hundred and nine vessels and 10,000 sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy helped keep the German fleet bottled up in ports, cleared mines across the English Channel, silenced enemy batteries on the shoreline, and carried Canadian troops and landing craft to the battle
• D-Day was one of Canada's most significant and successful military engagements, and a pivotal moment of the 20^th century. D-Day and the campaign that followed in Normandy would help signal the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

About HMCS Haida

• HMCS Haida sank the most enemy tonnage in Canadian naval history.
• Commissioned in 1943, this 71-year old ship proudly floats in Lake Ontario where she is harboured in Hamilton, Ontario.

Quote
"Our Government is proud to preserve HMCS Haida for all Canadians for its significant role in the Second World War. On the 70^th anniversary of D-Day let us honour the memory of those who sacrificed for our peace and freedom." 

David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale

Additional Links 

• www.parkscanada.gc.ca/haida
• www.veterans.gc.ca

Image with caption: "Mr. David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster - Dundas - Flamborough-Westdale casts a memorial carnation from the bow of HMCS Haida National Historic Site. (CNW Group/Parks Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140606_C8991_PHOTO_EN_41179.jpg

SOURCE: Parks Canada

Theresa Paris
Communications  Officer
Parks Canada
[email protected]
905-308-8954