Message from the CEO: Remembering B.C. D-Day veterans

Friday June 6, 2014

Dear Members,

I write asking your indulgence on a matter that has little to do with business, per se... other than to note that in absence of it our way of actually conducting business today would almost certainly be fundamentally restricted.

On an overcast morning 70 years ago today the liberation of Europe began.

D-Day troops started landing on the Normandy beaches about 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944.

Some of those men and their families are back in France this morning to remember D-Day.

Like 1944, they are a long way from home.

This time they'll be on the beaches of Normandy to honour the thousands of Canadians who fought and died there.

Here at home we should do the same.

Below is a link to a tribute video produced for the recent D-Day commemoration dinner hosted by B.C. Finance Minister Michael de Jong and the Province of British Columbia for B.C.'s remaining D-Day veterans, many of whom are now in their 90s.

The video is about five minutes long; or a little under one second for each of the Canadians killed on Juno beach that day. I am respectfully suggesting that today, of all days, we put the power of the internet and social media to good use as we remember and thank the greatest generation.

Please view the video, and share it with your colleagues, friends and family.

Respectfully,

Iain J.S. Black
President and CEO, The Vancouver Board of Trade