Beneath the pale November sky, snow fell gently on poppies fastened onto coats as visitors gathered at the Toronto Zoo for the 40th annual Remembrance Day ceremony. Despite the piercing cold, children bundled in snowsuits while city officials and veterans piled onto the concrete frosted steps of the zoo’s Waterside Theatre as the ceremony commenced.
Royal Canadian Navy Capt. Cal Bricker led the ceremony, which marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
“We join together remembering and honouring the many wartime sacrifices that Canadians have made for their country and all those who have given their lives to the cause of freedom,” Bricker said.
For Paul Whittam, retired head financial officer of the Toronto Zoo, who led the crowd in singing the national anthem, the day held additional importance, as he is the son of a Second World War veteran Frank Whittam, who served for six years after lying about his age to enlist at just 17.
After serving in the war, flying planes and training new pilots, Frank Whittam became a teacher and taught business at Humber Polytechnic North campus for 15 years before retiring.
To continue honouring his father and those who served year-round, Whittam said education is essential.
“Everyone who grows up in the generations that follow us need to know what others did to make it possible for them to be here,” he said.
To remember his father, Whittam visits his gravesite at Mount Hope Cemetery in Scarborough, near Sunnybrook Hospital, where Frank Whittam would perform flypasts over the hospital, which has a veterans’ wing.
Following the anthem, the crowd, coloured in black and red, bowed their heads in silence for those who served, as the Canadian flag rippled above them at half-mast.
Construction workers stood still on the dirt hill overlooking the ceremony, peering through the jagged fence as mounted officers trotted nearby, and silence fell over the concrete steps.
Dolf DeJong, CEO of the Toronto Zoo, said it is important that communities come together to honour these incredible heroes.
“This is such a scary part of our past. I think it's important that we don't ever forget,” he said. “It's precious, and I'm just so grateful that people make the time. I think it's so important we do that.”
Robyn Soares, the partnership and events associate at the Toronto Zoo, has been putting the ceremony together for the past four years.
This year, Soares was overwhelmed by the turnout.
“Hundreds of people want to come and mark this occasion here at the zoo, which is also notable because some of them are paying admission to be here,” she said. “It’s an opportunity that we do not take for granted, and we appreciate them coming out and spending that time with us to mark this important day.”
The ceremony concluded with the presentation of wreaths.
Wreaths were laid in front of a stone war memorial that honoured the men, women and animals that served by 24 officials and groups.
As Whittam laid a wreath on behalf of the zoo retirees, the crowd remained quiet and sombre in reflection in a procession that served as a tribute to the generations who served before him, including his father.
“It's a responsibility of those that follow to honour those that preceded us and made it possible for us all to be here,” he said.
