CONMEE – A monument was unveiled in the Township of Conmee on Saturday that pays tribute to Canadian soldiers and police officers in Northwestern Ontario.
Bob Manns, owner of the Ontario Military and Police Museum says that the monument was donated by Nelson Granite in Vermillion Bay and the inscription was provided by Lakehead Monument.
“So, we did some research for the different events of wars that Canada has been involved in and we put those on there to commemorate those soldiers that have made the ultimate sacrifice and along with the police officers in northwestern Ontario,” he said.
“It's our way of sort of paying tribute to them for what they've done for our communities.”
A second, smaller, monument was also erected to honour Bill Majbroda a WWII veteran whose dream was to start a military museum at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 225.
“He was totally dedicated to it, unfortunately, he passed away before he was able to finish it,” said Manns. “So, upon his passing, his wife wanted to know if this museum would like to take his stuff, so we did and it's on display in there and it's in his memory for all of what he's done.”
In attendance of the unveiling was Chief of Thunder Bay Police Service, Dan Taddeo, who says that the amount of work that Manns and his wife have put into honouring military verterans and Police officers from the Northwest is very special.
“I'm honored and privileged to be here. One thing about Northwestern Ontario is there's not an abundance of a population, so we heavily rely on partnerships Thunder Bay Police Service and the OPP, along with Nishnawbe Aski Police Service and, Anishinabek Police Service,” he said.
“We have to rely on each other for a lot of our resources and partnerships, we recognize the sacrifices that each of us make, but not so much as a sacrifice of those who who've paid with their lives.
Scott Hlady, superintendent of Ontario Provincial police for the Northwest region, says that it was an honour to be be present for the unveiling.
“It's an absolutely beautiful monument. There are many monuments throughout Canada, but, having one in northwestern Ontario that we can come and honor our veterans and our fallen police officers means a lot to us,” he said.
“And this is on the heels of a very tragic police funeral that happened earlier this week in Toronto. So, there's it kind of rings a bit of a chord with our police officers and our veterans here, so it's gorgeous.”
For anyone who wishes to pay their respects at the monument, it is located at the Northwestern Ontario Military and Police Museum at 7 Hume Rd W.
