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The image was both striking and stirring: More than 22,600 colourful mini-flags dotted the graveside markers at Pointe-Claire’s National Field of Honour, this country’s largest military cemetery for Canadian and Allied veterans and their immediate families. The cemetery grounds couldn’t have been more pristine.

The occasion was a Sunday afternoon ceremony honouring Canada’s war dead shortly before the 80th anniversary of D-Day, commemorating the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy, which marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War. More than a million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in the war, which took the lives of over 45,000 Canadians and left more than 55,000 wounded.

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Under a glorious but baking sun, a host of politicians and an ever-diminishing handful of Second World War vets were present to hear guest of honour Michel Miraillet, France’s ambassador to Canada, and others pay tribute to our soldiers for their service. A military band played the French and Canadian national anthems. There was the solemn laying of wreaths. There was even a vintage artillery vehicle on hand that landed in Normandy during the invasion. And shattering the serenity of the day were blasts from a howitzer, serving as a harsh reminder of the sounds of war.

Among vets and their family members attending the ceremony were former Canadian ambassador to Algeria and Greece Bob Peck and former Canadian ambassador to Indonesia and the Philippines Peter MacArthur, whose fathers are buried at the cemetery. Lt.-Col. Robert Peck took part in the flotilla assault force during the Normandy landing at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944. Private Infantryman James Drennan MacArthur took part in the liberation of Italy 80 years ago and the Netherlands a year later.

The two friends have been dismayed to learn that funding for the National Field of Honour has been fast dwindling and that its future could be in peril. The cemetery, owned and operated by the non-profit Last Post Fund, has been steadily accruing large year-end deficits.

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Although founded in 1909 by the Last Post Fund, the National Field of Honour was only officially inaugurated in 1930. In addition to the Canadians buried here, there are a number of French and Polish vets, whose graves were also decorated with mini-flags of their countries on Sunday.

According to the Last Post Fund’s Derek Sullivan, the 2023 cemetery deficit was $200,000 and “is ever growing.” The problem is that the Last Post Fund only has about $1 million in its Perpetual Care Fund, which doesn’t bode well.

The cemetery’s annual budget is about $500,000, which is hardly lofty. And if not for the contributions of volunteers — like those who placed the flags on the graveside markers — the cemetery would be in more dire straits.

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Peck and MacArthur have been at the forefront of efforts to help save the National Field of Honour, petitioning Veterans Affairs Canada to assume full responsibility of the cemetery, as it does with military burial grounds in Halifax and Esquimalt, B.C.

The Last Post Fund’s administrators have expressed the same desire.

“We really have less than five years to go with our available funds,” Sullivan said prior to Sunday’s ceremony. “Four years ago, we made a proposal to the veterans affairs minister to take over ownership and operation of the cemetery. Unfortunately, that was two weeks before the pandemic set in, so there wasn’t much due diligence on the project. But in the last two years, they’ve been more active in putting in money and time on this. Reports have been provided on environmental assessments and operational examinations and the like.

“We don’t know yet if the department will take this over, but I have very positive feelings about them doing something, because doing nothing is not an option. Can’t forget that this is the only cemetery in the country dedicated only to veterans.”

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Lac-Saint-Louis MP Francis Scarpaleggia — whose riding includes the Pointe-Claire cemetery and who attended Sunday’s ceremony — has presented Peck and MacArthur’s petition to the House of Commons and has declared his advocacy for Veterans Affairs to take over the National Field of Honour.

Peck and MacArthur have also communicated with Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor about the plight of funding for the cemetery.

“Peter and I want to see some sustainability here and we want the graves to be maintained,” Peck said Sunday. “At what time should the government act? We have the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the liberation of Holland and Italy coming in a few days. We think the time is now to make a commitment to resolve this problem. I think it would send a very positive message to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans who have laid down their lives for Canada.”

MacArthur conceded this is not necessarily a hot-button issue for most Canadians these days before an election. “The government has this wonderful opportunity framed by D-Day and the liberation of Italy to do the right thing before the election. It’s not a lot of money. Something must be worked out. This beautiful site has so much history to it. We just have to raise awareness with the government and all Canadians. There is a national interest at stake. There is a need to make a correction here to something that’s not right.”

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Scarpaleggia credits Peck and MacArthur’s steadfast efforts in petitioning for the cemetery’s future. “The idea is to have Veterans Affairs buy this and make it a national cemetery as (Peck and MacArthur) have stated. This place is a gem and I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.

“But you know the wheels of government can sometimes turn slowly, and that’s why you have elected representatives to help push those wheels forward.”

Added Sullivan: “I believe there is no chance that any government of Canada now or in the future would allow this cemetery to go under.”

Music to the ears of Peck and MacArthur, both of whom grew up in Montreal. Peck divides his time between Greece and Ottawa, while MacArthur is in Ottawa.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the two headed to the graves of their fathers with a little Irish whiskey to share.

“My father came from a simple farm family in Arundel,” MacArthur noted. “His world changed so dramatically during the war. He was so proud of his service.”

Peck’s dad rarely talked about his service. After the war, he returned to his job as a French teacher for what is now the English Montreal School Board, from which he retired three decades later.

“I heard he was a great teacher, but also a real disciplinarian,” Peck said.

On both points, I can attest. Mr. Peck was my high school French teacher.

Click here to sign Peck and MacArthur’s petition.

[email protected]

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