Antoine Chiasson

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Antoine Chiasson

Antoine Chiasson

At 17, Antoine Chiasson has been passionate about remembrance since he was very young. He has been a member of the 3027 Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps for four years, a volunteer at The Royal Canadian Legion Ortona Branch #07-42 for five years and a member of the City of Shippagan’s multigenerational park redevelopment committee for one year.

Antoine Chiasson cares about Veterans and remembrance. He realized at a very young age what some people had sacrificed for our country. He has never missed a Remembrance Day ceremony. Every year, he makes a wreath, which he proudly lays alongside those of the local Legion. Since 2018, Antoine has helped the local Legion branch organize the Remembrance Day ceremony and Poppy Campaign. He advises them on programming, so that the ceremony is comprehensive and is as similar as possible to the one set out in the Veterans Affairs Canada’s Guide to Commemorative Ceremonies. Similarly, he takes the initiative of getting cadets to serve as sentries to make the ceremony more solemn. He liaises between the cadet corps and the branch to have the cadets take part in the Remembrance Day ceremony. He volunteers by selling poppies at the church and filling poppy boxes in businesses. At the Remembrance Day service, he helps seniors (Veterans and widows) up the church’s stairs and to their seats.

Antoine is on his school’s student council and organizes activities throughout Veterans’ Week. He takes the initiative of ordering, displaying and distributing educational resources and material from VAC. He ensures that the day before Remembrance Day is a red theme day to pay tribute to the poppy. He also takes the initiative of making an announcement over the intercom to explain the importance of remembrance, plays the Last Post, observes two minutes of silence and then plays the Rouse. As soon as the Poppy Campaign begins, he makes sure that a box of poppies is available at the school so students and staff can make a donation and so each of them will wear a poppy.

Antoine is also currently a member of the City of Shippagan’s multigenerational park redevelopment committee. The committee is actively working to refurbish the City of Shippagan’s Parc du Centenaire, which is home to the municipal cenotaph. The Royal Canadian Legion branch, in collaboration with Antoine, is taking steps to reposition the monument and install related infrastructure to beautify it. Antoine is determined to pay proper tribute to the service of Veterans from his community. Antoine is one of those rare young people dedicated to remembrance who aspires to become a Legion member as soon as he turns 19. With his commitment and contribution to the Veteran community and to remembering their sacrifices, Antoine is part of the next generation of people whose mission is to keep remembrance alive so that we never forget the sacrifice of these brave Canadians.