Mr. Speaker, this past week, my city honoured the 2,800 Canadian veterans of the war in Afghanistan, 159 of whom paid the supreme sacrifice. More than 400 soldiers came from Hamilton military units. Four of them lost their lives.
The tribute is a permanent monument, located at the Warplane Heritage Museum, in the form of a LAV III armoured vehicle, offered through a program by Canada Company. Keven Ellis and his North Wall Riders Motorcycle Association crowd-funded, without government help, the $40,000 needed to buy the vehicle and arrange its display.
Thanks to the dedication of Mr. Ellis and his North Wall Riders, and the generosity of Hamiltonians, we dedicated our LAV III Afghanistan monument last Saturday, with regular, reserve, and veteran soldiers, and hundreds of civilians attending.
We are proud of our military in Hamilton. I encourage every community to follow the lead of a number of Canadian cities that have honoured their Afghan veterans.