Dear Families and Friends,
I hope you are all doing relatively well in these times of the COVID-19 pandemic and are all keeping healthy and safe.
We write to you today with respect to the annual memorial services held across the country.
This year will mark the 35th anniversary of when we lost our loved ones on June 23, 1985. We write to you with regards to the annual memorial services that are usually held across the country in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
- In-Person (Group) Memorial Services
As you will understand, due to the various provincial and municipal restrictions across the country we will be unable to hold organized group events at any of the Memorials in Canada. Our understanding is that government officials are unable to issue permits for our services due to the various restrictions. These measures are in place to protect the public from the potential spreading or contact of COVID-19.
- Individual/Small Group Visits to the Memorial Sites
Thankfully, access to the memorial sites are still open to the public. As such, any individuals can visit any of the Memorials should they choose to do so. Those of us who wish to visit and remember our loved ones lost may still do so. There are no restrictions on attending at any of the memorial sites so long as you follow the current rules/guidelines in place in the respective municipality/province.
- On-Line Memorial Messages
Having spoken to a number of government officials (Canadian government, Irish Ambassador, Indian High Commissioner) and following the model of some other memorial services of other tragedies during this COVID-19 period, we have invited government officials and family members to record a 2-3 minute video of their respective remarks. These videos will be collected and posted on a Youtube Channel for all of us across the country and around the world to access freely via the Internet. This Youtube Channel is being created by the families itself. The website address for the Youtube Channel is:
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCN6jttcCqiQMGeTCzt_E4wg/videos
Videos will be posted on June 23, 2020 and in the days following.
Please also take a moment to Subscribe to the Channel so that you are able to view videos as they get posted during the week.
Kindly,
Susheel Gupta
Phone: 613-618-3277
Email: myorangecar@mac.com