The rally in T.O.

Well, organizationally speaking, it was a bit of a charlie-foxtrot. But there were a bunch of us in red there.

We cheered, we stood in silence as the names of the fallen were read, we stood in awe as parents of the serving, the wounded, and the fallen spoke to us, and then we sang O Canada and left. Some supposedly notable people showed up, but to be brutally honest with you, they were overshadowed by the presence of the military families and veterans. It wasn't a time for politicians, although few of them proved able to resist the lure of the microphone on stage.



Speaking of the stage, we should all send a big thank-you to Greyhound for ceding their day at Dundas Square to this event. They had planned it and paid for it, and their permit would have taken precedence if they had chosen to push the issue, but to their overwhelming credit, they didn't. Here's where you can drop them a line to say thanks.

As I was travelling back to work on the subway, a friend of mine who spent a good amount of time with the service battalion here in town remarked how great it would be if other Canadian cities did the same thing we have in Ottawa and now Toronto.

Wouldn't it be fantastic to have a different city with a different rally on a different Friday, but with the same type of proud Canadians, decked out in red, belting out the national anthem, and supporting our troops?

Update: A couple of commenters over at SDA weigh in with their own first-hand accounts.

Up-front-date: Taylor got closer than me. And his pic's, as usual, kick butt.

Upping-the-numbers-date: Dr. Roy reports that some were disappointed with the numbers attending. I say that somewhere around 1000 is enough to raise a loud cheer, and given the organizational level, where and when it was held, it was about as successful as could have been expected.

Up-standing-with-the-nun-date: Deborah and Kathy were there too.