B.C. veteran to receive France's highest honour for service during Second World War
A veteran who lives in Duncan, B.C., will be honoured with France's highest award for his service in the country during the Second World War.
Ferdinand Labrie will be presented with the rank of "Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour" at a ceremony in Duncan on Nov. 17.
The award will be presented by Nicolas Baudouin, the Consul General of France in Vancouver, with local MLAs, MPs, and Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples in attendance.
Labrie is receiving the award on the 80th anniversary year of the Jubilee Operation, also known as the Dieppe Raid.
In 1942, the Canadian military led the Allied charge on the French port of Dieppe, making up nearly 5,000 of the 6,100 troops involved in the assault, according to Veterans Affairs Canada.
Labrie, who landed in the U.K. in 1940, was involved in the operation but his regiment was not sent ashore, according to the Consul General of France.
Labrie was part of the Brigade Reserve Regiment which was an Intelligence regiment that acted as a cipher specialist, says the consulate.
Labrie would later land on France's Juno Beach shortly after D-Day, and eventually returned to Canada in January 1946.
"He was one of only two of the original regiment to return to Canada," the consulate said in a release Wednesday.
FILE - Members of the Royal Canadian Medical Corps evacuating Allied soldiers from the beach after the Dieppe, France raid during the Second World War. (CP PHOTO)
France has been awarding the Knight of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour to Canadian soldiers since 2014.
Anyone who knows a living Canadian veteran who served in France during the Second World War can contact the Embassy of France in Ottawa to nominate them for the award.
"This distinction, the country‘s highest national order, illustrates the profound gratitude that France wishes to expresses to [Labrie]," said the consulate.
"It is awarded in recognition of personal involvement in the liberation of the country during the Second World War," the release continues.
"Through veterans like Mr. Labrie, France remembers the sacrifice of all Canadians who came to liberate it. The people of France will never forget."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'