Transcript

Hello. I’m Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister of National Defence. Today is Remembrance Day.

Today is the day where we pay homage to our veterans, the men and women who protected Canada through two Great Wars, the Korean Conflict and, of course, the more recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

These people sacrificed their lives, their families and their futures in order to ensure that we would have families and futures.

I am from a military family: my father served in the Canadian Navy, my husband served in the Canadian Navy and I have a serving brother-in-law in the Royal Canadian Air Force. And I am so proud of my family’s legacy of service.

And each of you, whether you are in the Department of National Defence or the Canadian Air Forces, should be proud of your service and your family’s legacy of service.

So many of us, most of us, have family members who have served in the Canadian Air Forces and protected us in our Great Wars.

I urge you to take time today to think of your family members, to think of those who are serving today and to think of the great sacrifice they made to make this country the best country on the planet. Thank you.