Early Wednesday morning, a Toronto police officer was killed while trying to stop a stolen snowplow. On Thursday morning, I attended a very moving ceremony to welcome 42 new Toronto police officers at their training academy. There was a reception held for "VIPs" prior to the ceremony. The senior police officers and politicians talked in quiet voices to each other until we were gathered together to march into the Hall were the ceremonies would begin. Usually, I feel comfortable walking up to strangers in setting like this and introducing myself. I sat by myself watching the roomful of people whom I did not know. I did not want to interrupt their conversations. Even if they were not directly talking about the events of the previous day, every conversation was affected by those events.
One person who was responsible for getting all the VIPs placed correctly in the procession approached me. Somehow, my name was not on his list. He apologized to me and assured me that I was welcome and that there was a place for me in this VIP section.
Attending an event with so much military precision, pomp and ceremony was an unusual experience for me. All the speakers at the ceremonies remembered their fallen colleague in their remarks. When all the new police officers were introduced and congratulated, the ceremony was over. Their friends and families joined them. There was very muted joy in the room. A ceremony that usually ended with exhuberance and celebration ended differently yesterday. It was an honour to attend.
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