Media Advisory: Minister to Participate in
ANZAC Memorial Ceremony in Ottawa

The Honourable Dave Denine, Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister Responsible for the Volunteer and Non-Profit Sector, will lay a wreath on behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2011 Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Day memorial ceremony in Ottawa. The ceremony takes place Monday, April 25, at 8:00 a.m. at the Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place.

ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand commemorated by both countries on April 25. It honours members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought in the 1915 campaign at Gallipoli, Turkey, during the First World War. In that campaign, 28,000 from Australia and 7,493 from New Zealand were killed or wounded.

Newfoundland and Labrador has a special connection to the origins of ANZAC Day. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment was the only North American regiment involved in the campaign where it fought as part of the British Imperial Forces. Hundreds of Newfoundlanders fought alongside soldiers from Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, France and India. In the Gallipoli campaign, 115 members of the Regiment died or were wounded.
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Media contact:
Lesley Clarke
Communications Specialist
Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat
Voluntary and Non-Profit Secretariat
709-729-6026, 699-2910
lesleyclarke@gov.nl.ca 

2011 04 21                                                    2:45 p.m.