By Robert Frank
POINTE CLAIRE, QUEBEC—Veterans Affairs Canada announced Thursday that it will take over ownership and management of the National Field of Honour, by far Canada’s largest military cemetery.
The National Field of Honour was designated a National Historic site on June 8, 2007. The oldest graves there predate Confederation.
It is the final resting place of nearly 23,000 Canadian and Allied veterans who fought in conflicts dating from the Fenian Raids to Afghanistan, as well as their loved ones.
“This transfer will secure the long-term stewardship of the National Field of Honour and ensure that this final resting place of our veterans and their families is honoured, protected and sustained for generations to come,” said a written statement by the Last Post Fund, which has operated the cemetery in Pointe Claire since 1930, as well as the original National Field of Honour atop the Mount Royal and Notre Dame des Neiges cemeteries atop Montreal’s central mountain.
Funds to purchase the land in Pointe Claire were provided by the Government of Quebec, which passed Bill 149—a law in the National Assembly to authorize the expenditure—on February 11, 1930.
