Remembrance Day could be improved

It is always gratifying to see the number of people, many of them families with young children, who attend the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph.

However, each year I return home from what should be a very meaningful event feeling disappointed because the themes of gratitude, of remembrance and of the importance of peace are lost.

Some simple changes could make the service more memorable:

1. Adequate P.A. system: As has been the case in past years, anyone standing on the east, the west or on the south side of the Cenotaph was unable to hear the service.

2. Acknowledgment of the land: In respect for the many First Nations and Metis people who have served Canada and in the interests of reconciliation, the program should begin with an acknowledgment that the service taking place is on Treaty 4 land.

3. Music: Several choirs

(high school choirs or groups such as Halcyon Singers) should be invited to lead the national anthem so that the singing is robust, as befits the occasion.

4. Multiculturalism and ecumenism: Given the racial and consequent spiritual diversity among the hundreds of attendees, prayers would be more appropriate if addressed to a generic being.

Since no one standing farther back than the third row in the crowd on Remembrance Day could either see or hear proceedings around the Cenotaph, attention to the above suggestions would help make future November 11 services more memorable and satisfying for the many adults, elderly people and children who attend.

Sheila McKague, Regina