Memorial Service

For many years, a tradition of Parliament has been to publicly acknowledge the death of a former Parliamentarian with a few words from all Parties.

In order to make recognition more appropriate and more solemn, the Party House Leaders invited the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians to organize a Memorial Service to recognize all Parliamentarians who have died in the period leading up to their Annual General Meeting. The Government of Canada has agreed to display the flag on the Peace Tower at half-mast on the morning of the Memorial Service.

The 2012 Memorial Service took place in the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill on Monday, June 4, 2012. This year, two former Senators and 20 former Members of the House of Commons, all of whom passed away during the previous year, were remembered by their family, friends and former colleagues. The programme for the ceremony is available here. The video recording of the ceremony by CPAC is available on the CPAC website here. The Hansard transcription of the ceremony will be available shortly.

CAFP President Léo Duguay (left), the Hon. Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons (centre) and 
the Hon. Noël Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate of Canada (right) honour a moment of silence to
remember the parliamentarians who passed away.

The audience, as Kathryn Dickson, daughter of the late Senator Fred Dickson, reads.