BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West
A national campaign to secure the financial viability of the National Field of Honour in Pointe Claire is now appealing to the city’s municipal council to endorse the effort to convince the federal government to take over responsibility for the veterans’ cemetery, the largest resting place for military service personnel in the country and the only one that is not administered by Ottawa.
And the aim is to persuade the federal government to do it before the anticipated next federal election and in time to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War later this year.
“What better occasion for Canada to honour the sacrifice and legacy of veterans who rest in the National Field of Honour but to announce the federal government will ensure that the cemetery will be maintained and taken over by the government of Canada,” said Canada’s former ambassador to Greece Robert Peck, who addressed members of Pointe Claire council earlier this month.
“I request the city council pass a resolution urging Minister (Darren) Fisher, the minister of Veterans’ Affairs, to take the necessary steps to ensure, in perpetuity, the viability and sustainability of the Field of Honour, a national historic site in the boundaries of Pointe Claire,” added Peck, a former resident of Pointe Claire.
The call on the City of Pointe Claire is the latest move in a five-year push spearheaded by Peck and another former ambassador, Peter MacArthur, who in his career in the diplomatic ranks served as Canada’s ambassador to Indonesia and more recently as ambassador to the Philippines. Both grew up in the West Island and their fathers are buried in the cemetery.
The campaign to convince the federal government to take over responsibility of the cemetery, where about 22,500 military personnel are buried, was launched in March 2020, and included a petition sponsored by Lac-Saint-Louis MP Francis Scarpallegia, which collected about 1,500 signatures that was tabled in the House of Commons last fall.
According to Derek Sullivan, a past president of the Last Post Fund who is working to secure government endorsement of the effort to transfer responsibility to the government, financial need makes the move necessary.
With burial revenues down and costs rising, the cemetery is operating with an annual deficit, which is on target to wipe out the not-for-profit’s remaining $900,000 perpetual care fund in three to four years, Sullivan said in an interview Monday.
“It would be unconscionable to allow a cemetery with that many Canadian veterans – and prominent Canadian veterans – to go bankrupt and, therefore, into disrepair,” Sullivan said, adding the request for Pointe Claire’s support is an example of how “every little bit can help” convince government officials.
In response, Pointe Claire Mayor Tim Thomas said he sees no reason why council would not endorse putting forth a motion.
“Everyone is in support of the Last Post Fund,” Thomas said. “It’s a part of Pointe Claire.”
Thomas expects council will adopt of resolution of support in February.
The cemetery, established in 1930, includes six acres of land adjacent to the Lakeview Memorial Gardens cemetery off Donegani Avenue. It was created by the Last Post Fund, a non-profit that aims to provide a dignified burial and military gravestone for military personnel. The site’s iconic stone gateway, known as the Gate of Remembrance, was unveiled in 1937. In 1975, a chapel was added, followed by a columbarium in the years that followed. The cemetery was also enlarged over the years, with the latest addition made in 1997.
There are two other veterans’ cemeteries in Canada – one in Nova Scotia and another in British Columbia. Both are owned and operated by Veterans Affairs Canada.