PHOTO: TOM MacGREGOR

Governor General Adrienne Clarkson during an emotional ceremony on Parliament Hill.

Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier, told an emotional Governor General Adrienne Clarkson that she would always be a member of “the Canadian Forces band of brothers.”

It was all part of a ceremony on Sept. 21, full of pomp and dignity on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as members of the Canadian Forces said a fond farewell to Clarkson just before her term ended.

Attending were three honour guards, one each of navy, army and air force.

Clarkson arrived by limousine in front of the Peace Tower and then descended the red carpet stairs, accompanied by husband John Ralston Saul, Defence Minister Bill Graham and Hillier.

After the band played the viceregal salute and O Canada, she reviewed the troops and talked to veterans. Dominion Vice-President John Alger and Dominion Secretary Duane Daly represented The Royal Canadian Legion during the two-hour ceremony.

“Like you, the men and women in uniform are dedicated to this country. Like you, they make us proud wherever they go,” said Graham.

Hillier spoke of how the Canadian Forces had regained its confidence after the dark period in the 1990s. He especially paid tribute to her work to recognize the sacrifices of families during long absences and missed birthdays and holidays. “Your time as our commander-in-chief has corresponded directly and not accidentally with an increasing awareness and acceptance by Canadians of its responsibilities to those families. It is not by accident that as the Canadian Forces started looking past a decade of darkness, past a long period of insecurity and past a lingering feeling of shame, that you were our commander-in-chief,” he said, noting that she also had an equally important role in making Canadians recognize the important role of the Canadian Forces.

“We especially feel for those families that hear that knock on the door in the night. Unfortunately, a family in Gatineau, Que., heard that knock last night as a result of a training accident in Wainwright, Alta.,” he said.

Sergeant Lorne Ford spoke of Clarkson’s hospital visits after he was injured in the friendly fire incident in Afghanistan that killed four Canadian soldiers.

One of those soldiers killed was Marc Léger. His mother Claire Léger, who has been the Silver Cross mother for the Year of the Veteran, also spoke. “We cannot say goodbye to you today without knowing a loving mother never ventured too far away from her children.”

Clarkson mentioned her father, Lance Corporal William Poy, who served in the doomed defence of Hong Kong which led to her family becoming refugees to Canada. She said John Ralston Saul’s father had been a D-Day veteran. “As Governor General, it has been my greatest honour to serve as your commander-in-chief. John and I have come to think of you as family.”

She said she and her husband had spent wonderful Christmases where troops were serving overseas in places of danger. “To be your commander-in-chief has been nothing but a privilege for me.”

Clarkson, the patron of the Legion, spoke to the veterans present, “So often when we need to hold a tea or to give out a Caring Canadian Award we have turned to the Legion hall in Turner Valley in Alberta or the Legion hall in Sioux Lookout in Ontario. It has always felt like a family reunion.”

A march past followed her speech and as the ceremony ended, the troops removed their caps and gave Clarkson three cheers.