The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Manitoba Lieutenant Governor John Harvard visited Flin Flon on Saturday to bring a solemn message on the importance of Remembrance Day. Harvard's first visit to the community as lieutenant governor saw him deliver a well-received speech at the Royal Canadian Legion's Remembrance Day Banquet. "Remembrance is central to the mission of the Legion, and the Flin Flon branch does a great deal to carry out that mission," he told the crowd. "I understand the community here is able to pack in 800 people, young and old, for the annual Remembrance Day service ? that's an impressive feat in a community of this size." See 'Casualties' P.# Con't from P.# The one-time journalist spoke about the impact that the Second World War had on Flin Flon and how the community's war casualties have been honoured. "After Canada went to war in 1939, a large number of young men from the close-knit town of Flin Flon ? and other towns in Northwest Manitoba ? answered the call," he said. "So many donned the uniform, in fact, that a large number of women had to take their place at Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting, producing materials essential for the war effort. "Unfortunately, not all of those young men returned. Across this province, there are a number of places named for young men from Flin Flon. Men like Flight Sgt. Maurice J. Barbe of No. 50 Squadron RCAF, who died in January of 1943. Barbe Lake is located in this region just south of Egg Lake. "Chapman Lake, just east of Southern Indian Lake, is named for Pte. George S. Chapman of Flin Flon, who served with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and died in the liberation of Holland in 1945. Aspholm Lake in the Hayes River area is named for Signalman Rueben L. Aspholm of Canadian Corps of Signals, who died in February of 1945." Harvard touched on what he sees as the increasing importance of Remembrance Day as memories of the First and Second World War and the Korean War fade. "Of course, it is not just the Legion's job to teach new generations about the sacrifice of our veterans and the cost of freedom ? that is a task that schools, the media, and indeed all parents should hold as sacred," he said. The lieutenant governor concluded his speech by suggesting the best way to honour fallen soldiers is for people around the world to commit themselves to a peaceful settlement of disputes. "I know that might be only a faint hope in situations where violence is a century's long tradition and where there is a deliberate choice of war over political negotiation," he said. "But we should never give up. Churchill had it right when he said, 'Jaw, Jaw, Jaw is better than War, War, War.' "Human kind should never stop striving to end war. Idealistic? Yes. Impossible? Maybe. Do we dare to admit defeat? Never. Defeat was never in the language of our soldiers. It shouldn't be in ours, either." Prior to delivering his speech, Harvard spoke to The Reminder about his trip to Flin Flon, a community he visited every other year during his 18 years as a TV journalist with CBC Manitoba. "I always look forward to an opportunity to get outside the capital and visit communities well beyond Winnipeg," he commented. Ordinarily Harvard and his wife, Lenore Berscheid, would have flown to Flin Flon, but the lieutenant governor said he wanted to drive down so he could appreciate the northern scenery. Also part of his trip north were stops in Ashern and The Pas, where he spoke to students, and Opaskwayak Cree Nation, where he attended a reception for band councillors and native elders. Originally from Glenboro, Man., Harvard was installed as the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba on June 30, 2004. Before his appointment, he served as a Member of Parliament for 16 years (1988-2004) and as a broadcast journalist from 1957-1988. Harvard was first elected in the federal riding of Winnipeg St. James and subsequently re-elected (three times) in the constituencies of Charleswood Assiniboine and Charleswood St. James-Assiniboia.
