How Ontarians can watch or mark Queen Elizabeth’s funeral


Royalists wishing to bid Queen Elizabeth a final, real-time “cheerio” Monday can do so — in Mississauga — if they are willing to wake up before the sun and brave rain and the risk of thunder.

Other Canadians intent on marking the monarch’s final passage through the public’s glare can do so by tuning in to or taking part in a national commemoration ceremony in Ottawa — one that will mirror the funeral ceremony occurring Monday in London — or by pausing at a more manageable 1 p.m. EDT to observe 96 seconds of silence, one for each of Elizabeth’s years on earth.

The funeral itself, which starts at 6 a.m. EDT, will be livestreamed at thestar.com and broadcast and streamed on the CBC, BBC and other major networks.

In keeping with the provincial moment of silence that has been declared, the minute bells of the tower at Toronto’s Old City Hall will toll 96 times for Queen Elizabeth.

City officials and staff will mark her passing during a gathering in the Peace Garden of Nathan Phillips Square, which the Queen herself dedicated during her 1984 visit to Canada. Elsewhere in a city of perpetual motion, TTC vehicles and Toronto ferries will also stop in place at 1 p.m., if only for a brief one-minute-and-thirty-six seconds.

The Royal Canadian Legion, which represents military veterans, has designated Monday as a National Day of Mourning. Legion members have been instructed to hold a service or wreath-laying ceremony, observe a moment of silence, host a post-commemoration gathering at local Legion branches and wear black armbands if so inclined.

Many of the commemorative services organized by Legion branches begin at around 11 a.m.

The main event occurs in London, England, at 6 a.m. EDT. The City of Mississauga is one of the rare municipalities planning to erect screens and livestream the funeral from Celebration Square.

Those unwilling or unable to tune in live can still watch or take part in the national commemoration of the Queen’s passing on this side of the Atlantic, which takes place in Ottawa.

There, a memorial parade consisting of the RCMP Musical Ride, a Canadian Armed Forces honour guard, a Royal Canadian Air Force pipe band, 17 honorary pallbearers representing regiments affiliated with the Queen as well as a flag bearer, departs at 12:10 p.m. from the Cartier Drill Hall.

The parade will snake through the downtown core of the capital — past the War Memorial and a monument to First Nations veterans — toward Christ Church Cathedral, the site of the ceremony. And there will be a 96-gun salute at LeBreton Flats, across from the Canadian War Museum, during the parade.

The ceremony itself will be held at the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa with addresses by former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson and former prime minister Brian Mulroney and musical performances by playwright and director Tomson Highway, violinist David Baik, Montreal singer-songwriters Ginette Reno and Rufus Wainwright.

The ceremony will be broadcast on YouTube.

It will end with Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18s doing a flypast over Parliament Hill and the cathedral.

For those who will be otherwise occupied on Monday, there is a candlelight vigil being held at 8 p.m. Sunday in Brampton City Hall’s Ken Whillans Square. On Tuesday, a memorial service is being arranged at 3 p.m. at Toronto’s Cathedral Church of St. James.

While Ontarians are not getting the day off work, as are federal government workers and residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and British Columbia, some municipalities plan on closing for the day.

Oshawa City Hall and Service Oshawa will be closed on Monday and city committee hearings scheduled for Monday are being pushed back to Tuesday.

Garbage pickup, however, will go ahead as scheduled.

Allan Woods is a Montreal-based staff reporter for the Star. He covers global and national affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @WoodsAllan

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