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George Kolodziejczak, a WWII veteran from Warsaw, Poland looks on during a Remembrance Day Service at Old City Hall Thursday. (Jayme Poisson/Toronto Star)
Hundreds of people donning red poppies filled the street outside old city hall Thursday as Colour Parties, led by Toronto Civic Honour Guard Rudy Jaeger, marched to the front steps.
At 11 a.m., tower bells tolled the 11th hour while a musician from 7th Toronto RCA rang out on his trumpet.
During the two minutes of silence, many onlookers bowed their heads. One woman wiped away tears. A few people smiled at a fussy infant, reassuring the mother trying to comfort her.
Just as a bag pipe lament finished, the sounds of planes could be heard far off, then, four aircrafts pierced the clear sky flying over.
"As mayor of Toronto for the past 7 years, I have been extremely proud to remember with you", said Mayor David Miller, adding that we are still a long way from a world without war.
"For all casualties of war - military and civilian- there is no peace," said Miller.
"Remembrance Day is not only about remembering our dead, "said Miller. " It's a chance to remember all those who have served our country."
He Asked people to extend their hands and say thank you ... To remember those who have paid their lives in service of their country.
— Jayme Poisson, Toronto Star
After the ceremony people place their poppies on the cenotaph at the Remembrance Day ceremonies that were held Thursday morning in Kew Gardens on Queen St. (DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR)
Wreaths are led by Air Cadets to the Cenotaph at Sunnybrook Health Services Centre in Toronto during Remembrace Day ceremonies. (Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star)
Opening scene at Queen's Park Remembrance Day event (Vinnie Talotta/TORONTO STAR)
Canada's veterans are being honoured by hundreds of people gathered in remembrance at the Ontario legislature.
Premier Dalton McGuinty is among the dignitaries attending the ceremony at Queen's Park.
Hundreds have also gathered at the cenotaph at Toronto's Old City Hall.
The city's subways, streetcars and buses also came to a halt to mark two minutes of silence.
Remembrance Day events are taking place across Canada, including a ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa with Gov. Gen. David Johnston.
The date commemorates the end of First World War on Nov. 11, 1918, but serves to honour all veterans.
A private member's bill recently introduced in the Ontario legislature would make Remembrance Day a statutory holiday in the province.
— The Canadian Press
Retired major general Richard Romer gives his opening remarks at Queen's Park Remembrance Day ceremonies. (Vinnie Talotta/TORONTO STAR)
Remembrance Day ceremonies have begun in at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
(Remembrance Day wreathes to be laid are seen prior to the start of Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Thursday, November 11, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Pawel Dwulit)
Tens of thousands thronged around the towering National War Memorial in the nation's capital to mark Remembrance Day with the time-honoured rituals of mourning for the country's military dead.
The November ritual opened with O Canada. A military bugler then sent the haunting notes of The Last Post echoing over the silent throng.
As the great bell of the Peace Tower marked 11 a.m. and its flag sank to half-mast, a gun boomed out and the crowd paused for a two-minute silence.
A flight of four CF-18 fighters roared overhead, with one pulling up and away to leave the "Missing Man Formation."
The Act of Remembrance was read out: "They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old ..."
Brig.-Gen. Karl McLean, the chaplain general of the Forces, read a poem written by a girl whose father died in Afghanistan. It ended: "Pro patria, Daddy."
As he spoke, the artillery crashed out a 21-gun salute, leaving a cloud of gun smoke to drift slowly in the light breeze.
Gov. Gen. David Johnston, who was presiding over his first Remembrance Day ceremony, placed the first wreath at the foot of the bronze and granite monument. Environment Minister John Baird, standing in for Prime Minister Stephen Harper who is at the G20 Summit in Korea, laid a wreath on behalf of the government.
Mabel Girouard of Bathurst, N.B., placed a wreath as the Silver Cross Mother, representing all grieving parents. Her son, Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in November 2006.
Representatives of veterans groups and diplomats filed up to place their wreaths until the base of the monument was awash in green and red.
Veterans with medals from three wars, watched in the crisp, bright sunlight as the rituals played out. Grizzled oldsters in blazers with medals from 1939-45 and the Korean War stood with young men and women in uniform wearing awards from Afghanistan.
Onlookers filled the surrounding sidewalks and spilled over the lawns of the East Block on Parliament Hill. Teens in baggy jeans stood with businessmen in overcoats, blue-coiffed matrons and young couples with toddlers.
As the ceremony wound down, pipes and drums played Amazing Grace.
— The Canadian Press
Governor General of Canada David Johnston greets an army cadet prior to Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Thursday, November 11, 2010. (Pawel Dwulit/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy lays flowers on The Tomb of Unknown Soldier at the annual Armistace day service, that is held in honour of those who have lost their lives during times of war, before heading to the G20 summit in Seoul on board of the new presidential plane. (Photo by Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images)
PARIS—A solemn ceremony at Paris' Grand Mosque has been held to honour the memory of Muslims who fought for France in World War I.
Defense Minister Herve Morin and Veterans Affairs Minister Hubert Falco took part in Thursday's ceremony, one of several official events marking the 92nd anniversary of the end of World War I.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy also revived the eternal flame on the tomb of the unknown soldier, beneath the Paris' Arc de Triomphe. Some 3,000 people turned out to watch the ceremony.
About 1.4 million people were killed or went missing in France during WWI, including many Muslims from France's colonies in North Africa.
The last French WWI veteran died in March, 2008.
Veterans pay their respects as they attend Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Grande Parade in Halifax on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010. (Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
A large crowd gathered around the cenotaph in front of Halifax city hall today to remember Canada's war dead.
Young and old alike stood silently watching in a cold wind that blew off the harbour as wreaths were laid to honour the fallen.
One of the first to approach the monument was Priscilla Blake, the widow of Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Craig Blake who died in Afghanistan last May.
For Second World War veteran Vern Westhaver, among the first Canadian troops to hit Juno beach on D-Day, the ceremony brought back a lot of memories.
At 88, the former Signal Corps radio operator says he still thinks about all the guys that didn't make it.
To this day, he says he sometimes wonders if it was all worth it.
— The Canadian Press
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