A statue of Queen Elizabeth, near Rideau Hall, in Ottawa, on Sept. 8.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
Canadians are being invited to line the streets of Ottawa on Monday to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth, as a memorial parade makes its way along a 2.2-kilometre route ending at Christ Church Cathedral, where a national commemorative ceremony for the late monarch will take place.
The events will be held on Sept. 19 after the Queen’s funeral takes place in London that same day. The parade will consist of Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members, and will begin at 10:10 a.m. at the Cartier Square Drill Hall in downtown Ottawa.
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The approximately 75-minute ceremony at the cathedral will begin at 11 a.m.
About 600 invited guests will attend the ceremony, which the public will be able to watch on a screen at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories near the cathedral, as well as online, government officials said Wednesday in a press briefing on the event. Media were requested not to identify the officials who spoke.
The ceremony will take place 11 days after the death of the Queen, who reigned as Britain’s monarch for more than 70 years. She was 96 years old. On Wednesday, thousands of people lined the streets of London to view the procession bringing her coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where she will lie in state until her funeral.
How will provinces across Canada honour the Sept. 19 federal holiday? Here’s what we know so far
The Queen’s funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey. It will begin at 11 a.m. local time (6 a.m. ET), and last an hour. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has designated Monday a federal holiday. While federal government employees will get the day off, the provinces and territories are taking different approaches to the day. Schools will be closed in British Columbia and the four Atlantic provinces, but they will be open in Ontario, for instance.
Monday’s commemorative ceremony will include both secular and religious elements, including a tribute by Albert Dumont, Algonquin spiritual teacher-in-residence at Christ Church Cathedral; music by the cathedral organist and choir members; prayers and readings; and an address by an “eminent Canadian,” whom government officials declined to name on Wednesday.
The 600 or so invited guests will comprise parliamentarians, representatives of the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP, as well as members of the diplomatic corps, faith communities, and certain high-profile Canadians. The ceremony will conclude with a fly-past over Parliament Hill by CF-18 Hornet fighter jets, government officials said.
Christ Church has been the site of state funerals for several Canadian prime ministers and governors-general, as well as commemorative services for members of the Royal Family, according to a government press release.
The memorial parade will feature a gun salute of 96 salvos – one for each year of the Queen’s life. It will include a 100-person honour guard, made up of 30 members each from the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force, plus 10 members of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, officials said.
Sparks Street will be closed between Bay Street and Bronson Avenue for the events, officials said, and other road closings will be announced later. The public is being encouraged to come to the parade route using public transit, as much as possible, to reduce the number of vehicles coming into the downtown core.
Mr. Trudeau, Governor-General Mary Simon and High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom Ralph Goodale will attend the Queen’s funeral, along with a small delegation of “eminent Canadians,” according to the officials. That delegation will be announced “very shortly,” officials said, but did not elaborate. RCMP and CAF members will take part in the funeral procession in London.
As monarch, the Queen acted as the symbolic head of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as honorary commissioner of the RCMP.