BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
The City of Pointe Claire has formally endorsed the national campaign aimed at convincing the federal government to take over responsibility for the veterans’ cemetery in the municipality – the largest resting place for military service personnel in the country and the only one that is not administered by Ottawa.
Pointe Claire council earlier this month adopted a resolution urging the federal government to take control of the National Field of Honour, which was designated a national historic site in 2007. The cemetery, which is the resting place for about 22,500 veterans, is currently administered by the Last Post Fund, a non-profit that aims to provide a dignified burial and military gravestone for any military personnel.
“The National Field of Honour also serves as an appropriate perpetual memorial to honour past service and to inspire continued commitment to safeguard Canada’s national purpose and identity,” the resolution states.
The endorsement from the city was requested by Robert Peck, Canada’s former ambassador to Greece who grew up in Pointe Claire.
The push to have Ottawa take over control of the cemetery is part of a five-year campaign spearheaded by Peck and another former ambassador, Peter MacArthur, who grew up in Beaconsfield. Both their fathers are buried in the cemetery. They are aiming to persuade the federal government to agree to the transfer before the anticipated next election and in time to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War later this year.
Financial need is at the root of the effort. 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, according to Derek Sullivan, a past president of the Last Post Fund Sullivan who spoke to The 1510 West last month.
The $900,000 would also be transferred to the federal government, according to the terms the Last Post Fund has outlined to the government.
The cemetery, adjacent to the Lakeview Memorial Gardens cemetery off Donegani Avenue, is one of three veterans’ cemeteries in Canada. The other sites – one in Nova Scotia and another in British Columbia – are owned and operated by Veterans Affairs Canada.