Royal Canadian Legion to raise flag to full mast prior to Remembrance Day Ceremony

The Royal Canadian Legion plans to raise the Canadian flag at the National War Memorial in Ottawa before Remembrance Day and then lower it to half-mast on Remembrance Day. It will be raised in the morning, and then lowered during the ceremony, where it will remain until sunset, after which it will be presented to this year's Silver Cross mother, representing all mothers who have lost children in service of their country.

On Friday, the Legion recommended to all of its branches that they do the same, as lowering the flag to half-mast is one of the traditional ways Canada honours all those who served in uniform, fought and died for this country. The Legion is in charge of the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial, and is vested with the authority to determine whether the flag should be raised. Members of the public will be able to attend the ceremony, provided they wear masks and maintain social distance.

Canada's flag has been at half-mast atop all federal buildings since late May, after a request from Prime Minister Trudeau following the discovery of what was at first believed to be the unmarked graves of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, BC. The Canadian Heritage Department said Friday that Canadian flags will remain at half-mast until the Prime Minister decides otherwise: If a half-masting notice is already in effect for federal buildings and establishments when another half-masting notice -- whether mandatory or discretionary -- is issued, no action in relation to the national flag of Canada is required."

There is mounting pressure on Trudeau to raise the flags at federal buildings prior to Remembrance Day from the Conservative Party, as well as from ordinary Canadians.

Brian Hills, a retired naval officer told CBC's Island Morning that the flags must go up across the country before Nov. 11: "At Remembrance Day, we lower flags in remembrance of those who have lost their lives serving this country... if the flags are already at half-mast, I think we will lose the significance of their contribution, and their service to this country." He added that the flag has added symbolic importance for veterans, because raising and lowering the flag is a routine part of their time in military service.

Tim Sock, a member of Abegweit First Nation, and son of a residential school survivor with family in military service concurred, saying it's "a slap in the face to those that served," including his father and grandfather, if the flags were still at half-mast by Remembrance Day, adding that "if [Canada] mess[es] with that traditional lowering of the flag in their honour, it's disgraceful."

A spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay says the flag "will be raised at a further date, which will be determined in partnership by Canadian officials and Indigenous communities. Remembrance Day remains an important opportunity for all of us to pay tribute to those who have served, fought, and died in service of Canada, just as we have and will continue to do for generations to come."