Fillion "Honoured" To Have Participated In Annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial

The head of the St. Jean Fire Department is calling a recent trip to Ottawa "the thrill of a lifetime."

Eugene (Gino) Fillion and 15 other members of the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs travelled to the 2019 Canadian Fallen Firefighters Memorial in September where the group served as honorary hosts to 10 of the families of fallen members.

"It was a great honour to represent Manitoba," said Fillion, who was the only fire chief from a bi-lingual municipality to attend.

Host duties throughout the weekend began as soon as the team arrived Thursday and included shuttling the families around the city, providing honour guards, hosting a hospitality event and providing speakers for various events.

In addition to performing these tasks, Fillion was also designated the official Axe Bearer for the memorial ceremony. This meant he had to practice marching and other protocol for about three hours on Saturday before leading the delegation into the service on Sunday. He also stood by the helmet and medallion table where families were presented with the mementos with which to remember their fallen members.

Meantime, Fillion happened to have a personal connection to the ceremony.

Twenty-two years ago, the first chief that Fillion served under, Norbert Sabourin, passed away, and since then has had his name emblazoned on the memorial wall in Ottawa. "It was a great honour to see his name up there," added Fillion.

Moving forward following the experience, Fillion says he wants to make it a priority to commemorate fallen firefighters locally. One tradition he hopes to start and maintain is to lower the Canadian flags that are dotted throughout the region to half-mast on each first Sunday in September.

The Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs also hopes to send more firefighters from the province to the official ceremony in Ottawa.

Also part of the Manitoba contingent were Morden fire chief, Andy Thiessen, and Morris fire chief, Wes Zilkie.