Trudeau will mark 80th anniversary of D-day at Juno Beach ceremony in France

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to France next month for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Trudeau will spend two days in France to attend D-Day events including a Canadian ceremony at Juno Beach on the morning of June 6, marking exactly 80 years since 14,000 Canadians stormed the beach as part of a massive Allied forces operation.

An international ceremony will be held later the same day on Omaha Beach.

On June 5, a memorial will take place at the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian war cemetery where 2,049 Canadian soldiers are buried.

D-Day is considered to be the beginning of the end of the Second World War, ultimately leading to the Allies liberating Western Europe from the Nazis less than a year later.

But it came at a heavy cost, with 381 Canadians killed on the first day of the invasion and more than 5,000 by the time the Battle of Normandy concluded three months later.

Trudeau is expected to use the ceremonies to highlight that the aftermath of the Second World War “led to the foundation of the modern rules-based international order” which Canada soundly defends.

He has used many speeches in recent months to talk about growing threats to that rules-based order around the world.

Canada has not yet commented on the fact that French President Emmanuel Macron invited Russian officials to attend some of the official D-Day events despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes, was not invited.

Trudeau has repeatedly said Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine is a threat to peace and stability around the world.

The organizer of the D-Day commemorations in France, known as Mission Libération, said in a statement in April that France had always invited countries whose troops landed in Normandy, including the Russian Federation.

Putin did receive an invitation and attend ceremonies to mark the 60th and 70th anniversaries of D-Day, the latter of which took place just a few months after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.

Trudeau attended ceremonies in France to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2024.

The Canadian Press