Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a great honour and privilege to salute the brave men and women of the second regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery.
The RCHA was formed in 1905 as a fast, mobile brigade that would gallop into action with a 13 pounder quick firing gun. Also in 1905 Sir Wilfrid Laurier deemed it of vital national importance to establish Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in my great riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.
Base Petawawa was specifically chosen for RCHA so it could train on wide open spaces with varied terrain. It was and still is a world class military training ground. As a result the RCHA became great Canadian heroes in World War I and World War II. It was the first into the bloody battles, the first to win and the first to die.
The rallying cry was “Root, toot-a-toot, toot-a-toot, merry men and women are we. There is none so fair that can compare to the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery”.