2005 - The Year of the Veteran

The year 2005 has been declared the Year of the Veteran, and I want to honour our veterans through this tribute on my website.

On Friday July, 22nd I had the privilege of attending the Year of the Veteran Flag raising at the York Region Police Headquarters. The following poem was handed to me by Veteran Angus MacDonald, and after reading it I told Angus that I wanted to share these words with my constituents by posting it on my website. He agreed, and I want to thank him and Jodie Johnson, who wrote this poem in 1996 at the age of 11.

WHO ARE THESE MEN?

Who are these men

Who march so proud,

Who quietly weep,

Eyes closed, head bowed?

These are the men

Who once were boys,

Who missed out on youth,

And all its joys.

Who are these men
With aged faces?

Who silently count

The emply spaces?

These are the men

Who gave their all,

Who fought for their country,

For freedom for all.

Who are these men

With sorrowful look,
Who still remember

The lives that were took?

These are the men

Who saw young men die,

The price of peace is always high.

Who are these men,

Who, in the midst of pain,

Whispered comfort to those

They would not see again?
These are the men

Whose hand held tomorrow,

Who brought back our future

With blood, tears and sorrow.

Who are these men

Who promise to keep

Alive in their hearts

The ones God holds asleep?

These are the men

To whom I promise again,

Veterans, my friends

I will remember them!

by Jodie Johnson , May 19, 1996 (age 11)

I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those Canadians who served during World War I and II; the Korean War; veterans of the Canadian Forces and serving Canadian Forces members; nursing sisters, medical and support personnel and clergy who cared for veterans; civilians who served in close support of the military; and Canadians who supported the war effort on the home front.

The new Veterans' Memorial currently under construction will be the first new monument to be built on the grounds of Queen's Park in 65 years. A permanent memorial to Canada's veterans and peacekeepers on the grounds of Ontario's Legislative Building. It will consist of a 100-foot-long granite wall etched with scenes form Canada's war history and inscribed with text. The monument is to be completed in 2006

While he was Minister of Transportation, Frank was proud to honour our veterans by initiating and commissioning the "Veterans Licence Plate", now available to all Ontario qualifying veterans.

York Region Police Honours

War Veterans During Year of the Vet

Flag-raising July 22, 2005

Veterans Affairs Canada
click here

Royal Canadian Legion

Klees opposes Bill 164, which bans

smoking in Legions:

"We have veterans in this province who now attend their Legions, and it's against the law, according to this government, for them to smoke. These are veterans in my riding of Oak Ridges who were willing to lay down their lives for people in this country so that we could have freedom, we could have rights, and this government now has the audacity to reach into their own private space in their Legions and say, "You know what? It doesn't matter that you're mature. It doesn't matter what you've done for our country. We're going to tell you how to live your life." That's fundamentally wrong. That's why I'm opposed to this. It's the principle of telling individual citizens that their rights are being taken away by this government. ". . . said Frank Klees.

For complete Hansard Record

May 31, 2005 click here

News Release click here