Not long after the Canadian flag was lowered from its perch atop a flagpole at NATO headquarters in Kabul, another was raised in Jasper.
March 12 marked the end of the 12-year Canadian mission in Afghanistan, and here in Jasper a small crowd gathered to celebrate its end, and remember those who lost their lives because of it.
The ceremony took place at the Jasper branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, where President Ken Kuzminski raised the Canadian flag to mark the occasion.
The crowd consisted mainly of students from 脡cole Desrochers, but the municipality鈥檚 mayor and chief administrative officer, as well as a few Jasperites and veterans also attended.
Dressed in a beret and white gloves, Kuzminski, gave a short but piercing speech.
鈥淗opefully this will be the last ceremony we will ever have to mark the end of a mission, which means the end of wars,鈥� Kuzminski said. 鈥淪ome people say the world is not that place right now, but the world is what you make it, and we鈥檒l leave it to you to have a world without war.鈥�
H茅l猫ne Gendron, of 脡cole Desrochers, also said a few words. In her bilingual speech, she highlighted the fact that Canada鈥檚 military presence in Afghanistan lasted almost as long as the First World War, Second World War and Korean War combined, and that more than 45,000 Canadians took part.
鈥淯ltimately we recognize that education will be the key to Afghanistan, and ultimately the world鈥檚 success,鈥� she said.
When the speeches were over, the crowd sang 鈥淥 Canada,鈥� before pausing for a moment of silence as Kuzminski raised the Canadian flag from half-mast to its full height.
After the ceremony, Kuzminski said he hoped it would help remind people that Canadian troops have been on an active mission for more than a decade.
鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 realize we鈥檝e been at war for 12 years,鈥� he said.
聽Trevor Nichols
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