Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford, Vice Governor Elizabeth Dowdswell and other dignitaries attended a ceremony in honor of the dead Ontario police officers in person for the first time since Sunday 2019.
The 23rd annual commemoration ceremony was organized by the Ontario Police Memorial Foundation and held at Queen’s Park.
“It is with a heavy heart that we have to call out six more names that day, six more heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the people of this province from injury,” Ford said. “These officers have never hesitated in their oath to protect the people of this province, regardless of personal risk. That my friends are the definition of selflessness, the definition of true courage. ”
Three names of officers who died recently were added to this year’s Ontario Police Memorial, including Toronto Police Officer Jeffrey Northrup, who was fatally hit by a vehicle while answering a call for a robbery of an underground parking lot in Toronto City Hall last year. year.
Ret. Inspector Stu Ellie knew Northrup and spoke to CP24 after the ceremony.
“He was the same in uniform as well as without a uniform. He was a great man and he was sociable, sociable, friendly, you know, the life of the party, “said Ellie.
But people respected him – not only in his police life, where he was a mentor to many people, he was a coach, an officer, he trained people – but also in his personal life, where he participated in scouting and lacrosse in Brampton, and he did the same something there with the children’s education. “
The other two recently added names are Police Officer Mark Hoving of the Manitulin Squad and Officer Joan Teresa Van Breda of the Niagara Regional Police.
Hoving was fatally shot while reacting to a property dispute in 2020. Van Breda was hit by an injured driver while reacting to a minor collision in 1986. She suffered serious injuries and died in 2020 as a result of ongoing medical problems. from her injuries.
After historical research, three other names are added: Guelph Police Officer John Teevans, who died in 1945; Brantford Police Officer John Hickey, who died in 1897; and Brookville Police Officer Alexander Wright, who died in 1895.
The last personal ceremony took place in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of closed roads are in force around Queen’s Park to host the ceremony.
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