On July 13, 2015 the Honourable Erin O’Toole, Minister of Veterans Affairs, presented the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation to local secondary school teacher Don Bingham of Kelowna.
Don is a social studies teacher at Kelowna Secondary School (KSS) and has dedicated a great deal of time and energy to ensure that his students and fellow teachers understand the important place our Veterans have in Canada’s history and why we honour them through acts of remembrance like our annual Remembrance Day ceremonies.
Don is the second KSS teacher to be honoured in this way. Last year, KSS teacher Graeme Stacey, who was instrumental in having the story of Hong Kong Veterans of the Second World War included in a resource guide for British Columbia social studies teachers, also received the Commendation.
I’ve had the pleasure of visiting their classrooms and witnessed their dedication, enthusiasm & passion for their students and our veterans.
It’s great to see their years of effort acknowledged in such a meaningful way.
In addition to organizing, maintaining, and acting as master of ceremonies for the school’s Remembrance Day assembly, Don has created a moving PowerPoint presentation on the importance of the school’s ceremony, which explains the protocol set out by the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL).
He has also tailored another presentation to promote the reasons we mark Remembrance Day and its value to Canada, describing Kelowna’s contributions to Canada’s 20th century military history through the use of local stories, artifacts, primary source images, pictures, and diaries.
Don has also forged a partnership with the Okanagan Military Museum to have every Grade 11 Social Studies students visit the museum and be taught by local military experts and have museum representatives visit the school and provide a chronicle of Canadians in Conflict from the Boer War to Afghanistan.
In 2012, Don travelled to Juno Beach with local students and has sought to raise funds to commemorate Kelowna’s casualties of WWII, including a plaque to be inscribed by the students of Kelowna Secondary School and laid at the Juno Beach Centre.
The Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation was created in 2001 by warrant of the Governor General and with the approval of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Although the Commendation is intended primarily for Veterans, it may be awarded to non-Veterans who have supported the Veteran community in some way.
Anyone in the community who knows of someone who would be worthy of this honour can nominate them through Veterans Affairs Canada. You can learn more about the nomination process at veterans.gc.ca or if you have any questions, please contact my office at 250 470-5075.
I would like to congratulate Don Bingham and Graham Stacey and thank them both for their important contribution to keeping the history and memory of our Veterans alive, especially in the hearts and minds of our young people.
I also want to thank all those in our community who in one way or another support our local Veterans. They are important to us and we must continue to do all we can to support them.
Ron Cannan is the Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country and welcomes your feedback at [email protected].
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.