The multi-faith aspect of a commemorative service for Queen Elizabeth II in Victoria played an important part in the closure and community many mourners were seeking on Monday.
Margaret Hill of Victoria was one of hundreds of people who filled the pews of Christ Church Cathedral behind dignitaries including Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin, Premier John Horgan, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and Victoria Police Chief Del Manak to pay tribute to the Queen.
“The service today was very appropriate and we heard from different people and I thought that gave a good sense of communion amongst different peoples,” said Hill. “This was closure for me.”
Prayers were offered by Iman Yousif Hamad; Rabbi Harry Brechner of Congregation Emanu-el, Victoria; the Most Reverend Gary Gordon, Roman Catholic archbishop of Victoria; and the Right Reverend Anna Greenwood-Lee, bishop of the Diocese of British Columbia.
The service was led by the Very Reverend M. Ansley Tucker.
Maricel Magracia of Victoria also noted it the multi-faith element.
“The mere fact that there were different religious organizations all here praying for her, it made it like a nice community gathering with the same purpose,” said Magracia. “I think it was a testimony to what she has done, making people come together in peace and unity.”
Horgan, in a warm and sometimes humourous address, expressed “sadness in my heart” over the Queen’s passing and reminisced about the Queen’s visits to B.C.
Service was the foundation of the Queen’s 70-year reign as the longest serving monarch in British history and Canada’s queen for almost half of its time as a country, said Horgan.
The Queen’s face, as familiar as comforting grandparents, is found everywhere, from our coins to portraits in the halls of the legislature, he said.
During her reign she welcomed 12 prime ministers of Canada and 13 B.C. premiers, and visited B.C. seven times, once as princess and six as monarch, he noted.
Horgan talked of the Queen attending a rodeo in Williams Lake, receiving the name “Ar-Oh-Muthl” or “Mother of All People” from the Coast Salish people during a visit to Nanaimo, and he delighted in the memory of the Queen dropping the puck at a Vancouver Canucks game during her Golden Jubilee year in 2002.
“What’s more Canadian than being at a hockey game but there she was, handbag in place, puck in hand,” said Horgan.
“If there was a moment that the Queen captured our hearts it would have been that day, certainly mine,” the premier said. “She was loved by the people of this province and she loved it here as well.”
Austin said the Queen’s constant presence touched many generations of Canadian families. She spoke to her grace, self sacrifice, and of her being a symbol of female power. The Queen’s qualities included civility and adherence to duty, she said.
Austin noted the outpouring of grief from British Columbians since the monarch’s passing.
“Wasn’t she marvelous,” said Austin.
The service at the cathedral followed a ceremony for the Queen at the legislature.
A cortège to the cathedral was led by the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy and a 100-person Royal Guard of Honour made up of members of Maritime Forces Pacific.
On Belleville Street, the 5th (B.C.) Field Artillery Regiment fired a 21-gun salute.
Young Felix Hougaard, in father Bjorn’s arms and with his mother Jill and brother Marcus, found the blasts very loud and noted “it made a big cloud in the sky.”
The Netherlands Centennial Carillon chimed 96 times to mark every year of the Queen’s life.
In the procession to the cathedral, people walked a 1.37-kilometre route, starting down the legislature’s east driveway past the Cenotaph, along Government Street, east on Fort Street and along Quadra Street to Christ Church Cathedral, 930 Burdett Ave. Police cordoned off an area around the legislature as well as the procession route and temporary surveillance cameras were in place.
Scott Coltart who has waved to the Queen Mother in England and saw Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Victoria said Monday was “the turning of a page.”
“I think that’s why the turnout is so big because everyone is feeling the moment,” he said.
