Mr. Speaker, fifty years ago today, the Allied Forces reversed the course of history on the beaches of Normandy. The operation that took place on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the end of the military and political hegemony of the Nazis and the Axis forces.
Taking part in the invasion on D-Day were units of the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division and the Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade. Also present at this historic moment in the liberation of Europe by the Allied Forces were more than 50 ships of the Canadian Royal Navy and 37 squadrons of the Royal Canadian Airforce.
This day is dedicated to all those Canadian and Quebec men and women, for the sacrifices they made in the defence of freedom on a day that was finally to lead to the end of the Second World War.