SOURIS, P.E.I. — Owen Parkhouse is hoping the Canadian government will continue to respect veterans long after he is gone.
Parkhouse’s career with the Canadian Forces lasted from 1989 to 2008, and included postings in the former Yugoslavia, East Timor and Afghanistan.
Today, Parkhouse is the president New Brunswick/P.E.I. branch of the Last Post Fund. Standing in the cemetery across from Saint Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Souris, Parkhouse told The Guardian that the organization’s members monitor the state of repair of headstones of military veterans, including those who served as far back as the Crimean War in the 1850s.
"I hope that the day that I go, someone will give me a marker and someone will maintain that," Parkhouse said.
On Wednesday, Parkhouse spoke at a brief event with Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay. MacAulay announced additional funding of $100,000 to assist with the restoration and repair of gravestones of veterans across P.E.I.
The funding will be a continuation of a $24 million program offered across Canada through Veterans Affairs Canada. So far, of the total 996 gravestones of veterans in need of repair in P.E.I., 331 have been repaired or restored. The funding will allow the program to complete work on the remaining headstones.
In a speech, MacAulay said the graves like those found across from the Saint Mary’s Church represented a “sacred place” that should be commemorated.
“No matter the time or place, Islanders have always been there — always on the frontline from the trenches in Belgium to the mountains in Afghanistan," MacAulay said in a speech.
"In fact, St. Peter's alone suffered the most casualties per capita of any community across Canada.”
MacAulay said the goal of the grave marker maintenance program was to ensure all headstones of veterans are maintained in the proper condition.
According to Emile Gallant, manager of cemetery maintenance with Veterans Affairs Canada, there are 90 military markers in the Saint Mary’s cemetery alone.
"You have to think, some of these people died back in the 1950s. So the markers are starting to get a little older, they're started to lean," Gallant said.
Gallant added that the Last Post Fund also has a program for graves of veterans that are not marked at all. Approximately 350 graves unmarked graves of veterans are found each year across Canada.
Gallant said confusion amongst family members of veterans often resulted in a lack of a marker in place for some who served as veterans.
"If they find a grave of a military person who doesn't have a marker, through the government helping fund them, they will put up a marker. And we'll take care of that marker perpetually after that,” Gallant said.
