Provincial Ceremony in Queen's Park
Queen’s Park Tribute to Ontario Holocaust Survivors
Every year, in the spring, the Premier of Ontario recognizes outstanding Holocaust Survivors for rebuilding their lives after the Shoah and their contributions to the Province of Ontario with a certificate of honour at The Queen’s Park Tribute to Holocaust Survivors. The initiative, which Premier McGuinty has led for 8 years, is jointly organized and sponsored by the Premier’s office and the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem. .
Set inside the elegant and stately rooms of the Ontario Legislative Building, family and friends of Holocaust Survivors sit side by side with members of the provincial parliament to listen to each survivor’s personal story, remarkable accounts of tragedy and triumph, as our gracious premier offers a warm handshake and presents the Survivor with a certificate of honour.
Joining the Premier McGunity for the last several years were MPP Monte Kwinter, Dr. Eric Hoskins, Provinical Minister of Citizenship an Immigration, and Israel’s consul general to Toronto, Amir R. Gissin.
On Thursday, May 19, 201, Premier McGuinty celebrated 19 honourees, remarking how “understandable it would have been for them to give up on life; instead, they chose another path.”
MPP Cheri DiNovo of the NDP delivered a passionate and moving speech in which warned about the “banality of evil,” which lurks in the hearts of the ordinary and the everyday. She ended with a passionate refrain “Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa,” asking for forgiveness for the lack of action of the Christian church which, by and large, stood by as the Jews were systematically murdered in the Holocaust.
The Canadian Society for Yad Vashem is grateful to those members from our community who have nominated a Survivor, facilitating the important mission of carrying forth the survivor’s eternal legacy.
Please submit your nomination, including the name and story of the Holocaust Survivor you would like recognized to:
| Email: | klara@yadvashem.ca |
| Tel: | 416.785.1333 |
| Fax: | 416.785.4536 |
| Mail: | The Canadian Society for Yad Vashem 265 Rimrock Road, Suite 218 Toronto, Ontario M3J 3C6 |
