View larger image Veteran Robert Guy touches a memorial to Canadian soldiers on the legislature grounds in Toronto, Ont. (CP / Adrian Wyld)
View larger image A First World War soldier places stones on a Canadian grave near Vimy, France in this June, 1917 archive photo. (CP / National Archives of Canada) View larger image First World War veterans Dwight (Percy) Wilson (left) and Lloyd Clemett participate in Remembrance Day ceremonies in the veterans wing at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on Nov. 11, 2006. (CP / Frank Gunn) NDP Leader Jack Layton speaks with Canada AM on Tuesday from CTV studios in Ottawa.
Commons approves motion for state funeral
CTV.ca News Staff
The House of Commons voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of an NDP motion asking the government to sponsor a full state funeral when the last First World War veteran passes away.
Only three surviving First World War veterans - Dwight (Percy) Wilson, 105, and Lloyd Clemett and John Babcock, both 106 - are still alive.
NDP Leader Jack Layton said the government should recognize that a state funeral would celebrate "the contribution of a whole generation of Canadians who served, whether overseas or here at home and their families as well."
Layton told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday morning that the funeral would allow the entire country to pay tribute to all those who served during the First World War.
"We won't be able to look them in the eyes anymore and thank them for their service the way we should for everyone who is willing to serve our country the way they did and our armed forces personnel still do," he said.
The concept was first proposed before Remembrance Day by the Dominion Institute, which said such a funeral would help promote memories of the long-ago conflict.
"We want to thank the tens of thousands of Canadians who signed our petition in support of a State Funeral," Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute said in a written statement.
"By passing a motion to offer a full state funeral today the Parliament of Canada will allow a grateful nation to pay proper tribute to our last Great War veteran on his passing and honour the over 600,000 Canadians he served with under arms from 1914-1918."
The veterans' advancing years created a groundswell of support for the proposal to follow the example of Australia, which held a state funeral for the final survivor of the Battle of Gallipoli.
By Tuesday morning, nearly 100,000 people had signed a petition on the institute's website asking that the Canadian government support the proposal.
There were initial concerns that the Conservatives would not support the motion.
A spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson had said the Tories wouldn't say whether they would back the motion until they saw it.
A poll released on Remembrance Day found that three out of four respondents approve of a state funeral when the last First World War veteran dies.
State funerals are one of the highest honours a country can bestow on a person, but they're traditionally reserved for prime ministers and governors general.
More than 600,000 Canadians served in the First World War and 60,000 of those were killed.
The  approved a  for the last standing World War I veteran Tuesday. Three of them are still alive, Percy Wilson, who is 105 years old, Lloyd Clemett and John Babcock, both 106. They are the last three living veterans among the 619,636 Canadians who served between 1914 and 1918.

The motion, introduced by the , was favored by all party leaders. The motion was prompted by an online petition by the , a national organization which promotes Canadian history.

State funerals in Canada, by tradition, are reserved for prime ministers and governors general. This bill, which is now in affect in Canada, means that state funerals are not only for prime ministers but for people who have served the country.

"We want to thank the tens of thousands of Canadians who signed our petition in support of state funeral," said , the director of the Dominion Institute. "By passing a motion to offer a full state funeral today the Parliament of Canada will allow a grateful nation to pay proper tribute to our last Great War veteran on his passing and honour the over 600,000 Canadians he served with under arms from 1914-1918."

Australia, also held a state funeral for the final veteran of the . A State Funeral was offered for Steve Irwin in September 2006, but the offer was declined by his family's wishes. Canada is the fourth country to have a funeral honoring the last war veteran that served in any war.

"We won't be able to look them in the eyes anymore and thank them for their service the way we should for everyone who is willing to serve our country the way they did and our armed forces personnel still do," NDP Leader Jack Layton said.

Since November 6, around 100,000 Canadians had signed the online petition.