Photo: Nunavut capital remembers Vimy Ridge, 1917 to 2017

Sgt. Luke Cornthwaite of the 795 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Iqaluit pauses April 8 as he talks about his 2015 visit to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. “It made me feel pretty emotional,” he told those gathered in the Cadet Hall for a Ceremony of Remembrance. The hour-long ceremony was held April 8 to remember the 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge in France where more than 3,500 Canadian soldiers died in between April 9 and April 12 in 1917. The ceremony included the laying of wreaths from the Royal Canadian Legion, the 795 Air Cadet Squadron, the Royal Canadian Legion Ladies Auxiliary, the RCMP, the Canadian Forces, the City of Iqaluit, the Government of Nunavut, the Government of Canada and the Queen. Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna was in Vimy April 9 with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian delegation for the 100th commemoration events at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial where Nunavik singer and songwriter Elisapie performed her song “Salluit” for those assembled at the memorial. Students from Kiilinik High School in Cambridge Bay were also in Vimy for the April 9 events. You can see more photos from the Iqaluit ceremony on the Nunatsiaq News Facebook page. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)