New plaques arrive at Fredericton cenotaph in time for Remembrance Day service

The arrival of the plaques at the Fredericton cenotaph was met with a loud round of applause on Remembrance Day.

Fredericton’s Remembrance Day ceremony began with applause for veterans as they marched through the city’s downtown, and continued for the arrival of the new cenotaph plaques.

They replace the two plaques stolen and sold for scrap metal in late October.

Don Swain with the Royal Canadian Legion says the arrival of the plaques on Nov. 11 was quite the achievement.

“I think it’s unbelievable they got here so quick,” he said.

There wasn't enough time, nor the right kind of weather, to mount them front and centre. Regardless, there was relief all around as the plaques arrived on time.

“We had the great collaboration of our foundry and the designers of the plaques because we were able to reproduce the plaques as they were,” said Gilles Bourque with New Brunswick’s Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

Many took the opportunity to walk up to the name of a relative, friend, or stranger, and remember.

“It just makes all the difference in the world to come up here and just touch the name of their ancestor, and I've seen people do that here at the cenotaph, and it’s just an awesome thing that they're here on display for the people today,” said Swain.

Hundreds of people gathered for the service in downtown Fredericton.

“There always seems to be something that really empowers people to come out, the plaques (disappearing) I think really upset a lot of people,” said Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside.

A third plaque taken from the cenotaph continues to be worked on. Police are also continuing to investigate who carried out the theft.

“We know he is hiding underground somewhere and it’s not a matter of if, but when we make the arrests,” said Chief Leanne Fitch of Fredericton Police.

But the true focus in Fredericton on Nov. 11 was on remembering.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore.