This past Saturday morning, on June 6th, Mayor John Tory, joined by a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles, raised the Toronto Flag that flew at Juno Beach to commemorate and proclaim D-Day in Toronto.

During Saturday’s early morning ceremony in front of Toronto’s City Hall, Mayor John Tory honoured the 14,000 Canadians who stormed Juno Beach in Normandy.

“Their courage and their determination led to some successes in those early morning hours but that success came at a huge price,” said Tory, noting that 359 Canadian soldiers lost their lives on D-Day, including 50 from Toronto.

Marking the 75th year since the Normandy invasions by allied forces, the City sent a Toronto Flag to the Juno Beach Centre in France, which flew on Juno Beach on April 9, 2019, Vimy Ridge Day, and was subsequently returned to City Hall.

The flag was then raised on the Podium Roof courtesy flagpole on Nathan Phillips Square on June 6, 2019 as the City of Toronto commemorated D-Day. The Toronto Flag will fly each year on June 6 at Toronto City Hall. It will also fly on Remembrance Day and on other occasions.

Learn more about how Canadians are urged to heed lessons of war in ceremonies marking D-Day anniversary at: https://www.cp24.com/news/canadians-urged-to-heed-lessons-of-war-in-ceremonies-marking-d-day-anniversary-1.4454492

Photos courtesy of Toronto.ca