Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
As Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest in Britain, the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion hosted a ceremony of its own to honour the late monarch.
Over 50 people attended the service at the Memorial Park Cenotaph during a National Day of Mourning on Sept. 19.
In a speech, Mayor Richard Ireland reflected on “the individual who touched us all through her individualized exercise of her formal constitutional role.”
He noted how Queen Elizabeth II embodied “characteristics we admire, characteristics we require” such as dignity, decency, devotion and duty.
“Over the course of seven decades, she epitomized the very essence of selfless public service, and through that steadfast service, she provided such a wealth of welcome and needed stability,” Ireland said.
“Through her exceptional and exceptionally long reign, we were so richly rewarded by her calm resolve and we return to her the respect which she conferred on others.”
The Queen visited Jasper several times in the past.
She and several members of the Royal Family have stayed at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge –a King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939, and Princess Margaret in 1980.
Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 2005 stayed in Outlook Cabin while they were touring the province of Alberta for Alberta’s 100th anniversary.
Primer Jason Kenney expressed in a statement his sorrow at the death of the Queen.
“The long and glorious reign of Canada’s Sovereign has ended, and with it what Sir Winston Churchill called the second Elizabethan Age,” Kenney said.
“For almost all of us, she is the only Canadian Monarch we have ever known. In an ever-changing world, she was for us a bedrock of stability and continuity, a ceaselessly gracious and dignified presence in our lives.
The premier noted how the Queen had continued her public duties into the seventh decade of her reign and her 96th year.
“On her many visits to Alberta, Her late Majesty demonstrated a deep affection for this place and its people,” Kenney added.
“Her name will live on forever here, on schools and streets, roadways and buildings, and indeed Mount Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Elizabeth Range of our majestic Rocky Mountains.”
The Jasper-Yellowhead Museum has created a small exhibit in the late Queen’s honour.
A book of condolences is also available for patrons to sign, which will then be sent to the former Queen’s family.
The exhibit will run until Oct. 2.
