Mr. Speaker, this Remembrance Day will mark 100 years since the end of World War One.
I rise today to celebrate a town in my riding that has a unique place in the history of the end of the First World War. North Sydney became the first community in North America to celebrate the end of the war.
On November 10, 1918, the Western Union Cable office in North Sydney received a message that the war would end the following day. The message notified that peace was to be observed on “the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month” of that year.
A parade was formed, a concert was held, bonfires were lit and celebrations continued far into the night. The town celebrated a day before the rest of North America even knew there was a truce. In all this, North Sydney has carved a distinct position as the first community to celebrate the end of the the world war.
On this November 10, the 100th anniversary of the date the message arrived in North Sydney, I look forward to joining join Cape Bretoners at the North Sydney Historical Society's celebrations to mark this one-of-a-kind piece of history.