Toronto marks Remembrance Day 2024

Toronto is marking 10 years since the war in Afghanistan and honouring a little-known group of Black military men from the First World War, ahead of Remembrance Day on Monday.

Richard Berthelsen, the city's deputy chief of protocol, told CBC Toronto that many of the city's citizens have helped build the country through service in the Canadian Armed Forces. 

This year, he says he's especially thinking of those who served in Afghanistan. 

"We're looking back 10 years at this point," Berthelsen said. "And we're thinking of those individuals who were impacted, both by being injured, either mentally or physically, and of course, the eight from Toronto who lost their lives."

An exhibit outlining the history of the war in Afghanistan as it relates to Toronto is on display at city hall until Nov. 11. 

"There was a real direct connection between Torontonians and that conflict," Berthelsen said.  "We also know that many Afghanis emigrated to Canada ... It's an anniversary that has many aspects of significance."

Sean Maloney is a history professor at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., and served as the historical advisor to the chief of the land staff in Afghanistan.

While much of Remembrance Day centres around the first and second world wars, he told CBC Toronto this year is a good time for Canadians to start reflecting on more recent events. 

"Let's remember that between 30-40,000 of us served in Afghanistan," Maloney said. "At least 158 of us were killed. Hundreds and hundreds have come back with physical, as well as non-physical, wounds. That's a lot of people."

Afghanistan vets often overlooked: history prof

Maloney says he's asking Canadians to think about the sacrifices made on their behalf. 

"All of us that were over there were representing Canada and Canadians, they weren't just representing a government. They just weren't representing the political leaders," he said.

"They were representing all of us, including our value system, our interests."

Maloney says he worries that veterans of Afghanistan are often overlooked, because the Canadian mission there may be deemed unsuccessful. 

"[We] need to be integrated into our national remembrance process because what we did there is part of Canadian history. It's part of Canadian culture," he said. 

City honours all-Black WWI battalion

Meanwhile on Thursday, Heritage Toronto and city officials are unveiling a new plaque to honour the only segregated, all-Black military unit in Canada's history. 

No. 2 Construction Battalion served in the First World War. 

"There was a lot of systemic racism in the enlistment process," Chris Bateman, plaques manager at Heritage Toronto, told CBC News.  "Often recruiting officers simply wouldn't recruit Black men who showed up to join the military because they didn't want them serving alongside white soldiers."

In response, there was a national lobbying effort to allow Black men to enlist, he said. 

"As a result of that, No. 2 Construction Battalion was formed," Bateman said "They recruited from across the country … and a number of men from Toronto were able to enlist."

The battalion went overseas in 1916, working in logging operations, building roads and maintaining the infrastructure of Canadian bases in Europe, he said. 

The new plaque will sit near King Street W. and University Avenue, the location of one of the battalion's recruiting spots.

Additionally, the city will observe Indigenous Veterans Day on Friday and hold official ceremonies on the morning of Nov. 11 at the following locations: 

• Old City Hall Cenotaph, 60 Queen St. W.
• East York Civic Centre Memorial Gardens, 850 Coxwell Ave.
• Etobicoke Civic Centre Cenotaph, 399 The West Mall.
• Fort York National Historic Site, Garrison Common, 100 Garrison Rd.
• North York Cenotaph in York Cemetery, 160 Beecroft Rd.
• Scarborough War Memorial, 2190 Kingston Rd.
• York Civic Centre Cenotaph, 2700 Eglinton Ave. W.