REGINA — Those Saskatchewan residents who fought and died for their country were remembered at the Saskatchewan Legislature this past week.
The 2025 Annual Service of Remembrance for the Public Service took place Nov. 5 at the Saskatchewan Legislature.
The service took place inside the Legislature rotunda, attended by Lieutenant Governor Bernadette McIntyre as well as several dignitaries, representatives and veterans from the Canadian Forces, and elected officials including Premier Scott Moe.
The service paid tribute to the public servants who served, as well as all other Saskatchewan residents who served in the military or who gave their lives in combat.
Premier Moe spoke at the service and his remarks included the following:
“To all service members here today, their families, their friends, I say thank you for the sacrifices that you have made on behalf of all of us. Over 11,000 brave Saskatchewan souls have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedoms. This includes numerous public servants who answered their call to serve our country.
“They were our friends, they were our family members, they are neighbours and colleagues. It's important to remember and honour them, not just today, but every day. Our veterans and our active service members occupy a special place in history and, I say, occupy a special place in our community.
“Canada's 13th Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, said it best, and I quote: I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who will govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and for all mankind. We all share the duty to recognize and remember those who protect Canada's freedoms, ensuring that many sacrifices for those freedoms are never, ever in vain.
“Let's not forget that many people around the world don't share those same freedoms that we enjoy today. And it's because of our service members, past and present, that we're able to live them out and commemorate and thank them for their very service today.”
Following the service indoors, the ceremonies moved outdoors as Premier Moe laid a wreath at the foot of the Saskatchewan War Memorial.
Colonel Jason Quilliam, the province’s Chief of Protocol and himself a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, said ceremonies like this are important.
“Remembrance Week is just an important time for all of us here in Canada to recognize the service and the sacrifices of so many Canadians who, whether they were public servants, whether they were just in regular life, answered that call to service. And whether they went overseas, whether they served domestically, they put that uniform on. And so we take this week to recognize that.”
He noted that on the Saskatchewan War Memorial are the names of nearly 12,000 names of Saskatchewanians who paid that ultimate sacrifice.
“And so it's really incumbent on us, not only this week, I would say throughout the year, to ensure that we're not forgetting them.”
But more than being names on a monument, those at the ceremonies were reminded by speakers that each of those names on the monument were human beings — flesh and bone.
“We put the uniform on, but we're Canadians,” Quilliam said. “Whether we live here in Regina, whether we're just north of Toronto, whether we're in Newfoundland, we put that uniform on and we served. I was fortunate enough to come back. I've got two tours in Afghanistan, one with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Africa. And that latter tour I did while a public servant. The government gave me a leave, and I went and served on a UN Peacekeeping Mission, kind of fulfilling a lifelong goal of wearing that blue beret. But at its heart, we're Canadians, just like everybody else.”
