Loreena McKennitt’s role as honorary colonel comes to an end

After a nearly 18-year tenure, Loreena McKennitt is standing down as an honorary colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

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On Wednesday, the Juno Award-winning artist spoke about her record-breaking run of civilian service as she bade farewell to her “military family” during a speech in Ottawa as part of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s honorary colonel change-of-appointment ceremony .

Earlier in the week, the Stratford musician and Lt.-Gen. Eric Kenny, the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, received a standing ovation from Canada’s members of Parliament while sitting in the gallery of the House of Commons.

McKennitt initially served as honorary colonel of the Winnipeg-based 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron from 2006 to 2015. She was then appointed as honorary colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force, a role she served from 2015 to June 2024. The usual term of service for this position is three years.

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“I accepted this role largely inspired by the sentiment that democracy does not thrive as a spectator sport — that if we care about the democracy we live in, we need to all do our part to preserve it,” McKennitt said in a release.

Largely an advisory role, honorary colonels act as a kind of bridge between the civilian population and the military community, and work to strengthen the public profile of their units. Honorary colonels also strive to enhance the morale of military service people and their families.

“She is a strong advocate for the military and RCAF, and she always took time with our members to hear their stories and share her wisdom,” Kenny said at Wednesday’s ceremony. “Your legacy is one of inspiration and advocacy. You should be tremendously proud of all you have accomplished as an honorary colonel.”

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McKennitt and Kenny were joined at the ceremony by Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s chief of defense staff, and Perth-Wellington MP John Nater.

During her time as honorary colonel, McKennitt took part in more than 175 events, including several foreign trips to visit Canadian troops and a few mess hall dinners. She also attended repatriation ceremonies in Trenton, as well as funerals in Petawawa, Woodstock and Quebec.

In 2017, McKennitt performed as part of the ceremonies at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial that marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. She later wrote a song, Breaking of the Sword, about a “mother’s love for her war-bound son” and donated the digital sales proceeds to the Support Our Troops Fund.

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McKennitt has also been a fixture at most of Stratford’s Remembrance Day ceremonies since 2006. Last year, while on tour, she did take part in the Remembrance Day service — the largest indoor ceremony of its kind — in Saskatoon, Sask. One of her last appearances as honorary colonel took place on June 1 at the RCAF Ball in Ottawa in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Her service as honorary colonel was recognized in December 2019, when she was awarded with the Canadian Forces Decoration. McKennitt has also twice been presented with a Command Commendation by National Defense for “deeds or activities” that go beyond the demands of normal service.

Her involvement with the Royal Canadian Air Force stemmed from a personal tragedy. McKennitt’s fiancé his brother and another friend drowned in a July 1998 boating accident, prompting the musician to create the Cook-Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety that has since raised more than $3 million. This personal tragedy connected McKennitt with the search and rescue community, including the 242 Transport and Rescue Squadron based in Trenton, Ont., that conducted the search for the three missing men.

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“Many people, of course, were surprised to find an artist who sang sensitive Celtic songs to have any association with the military whatsoever. . . . The brutal truth is that this journey began, unknown to me, in 1998 when I lost my fiancé in a boating accident in Georgian Bay,” McKennitt said.

Since becoming honorary colonel, McKennitt said her knowledge of the services provided by the Canadian Armed Forces has grown, noting the search-and-rescue activities, disaster relief and peacekeeping efforts of the country’s military personnel.

“It is my fervent hope that we will all continue to be soldiers of democracy,” McKennitt said during Wednesday’s ceremony. “In the Royal Canadian Air Force and all of the Canadian Armed Forces, we are deeply privileged to have some of the finest men and women in this country. Around, behind and beside them are some of the most remarkable families you will find anywhere. We, as Canadians, owe them all our duty of care.

“Whether we are automotive workers, or hospitality waiters, singers or soldiers, premiers or plumbers, the time is now to shut down our social media, study our history books, set aside our petty political differences and find the common ground to move forward with a renewed commitment to a way of life our past generations sacrificed so much for.”

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