White Rock presence at Ottawa memorial
Const. Janelle Canning
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Updated: September 28, 2009 10:54 AM
Const. Janelle Canning doesn't personally know any of the 700-plus Canadian officers who have been killed in the line of duty.
But she will join thousands of her comrades on Parliament Hill Sunday to honour them nonetheless.
"I think that everyone should be recognized for their sacrifice and it will be cool to do it in Ottawa," Canning said.
The Police and Peace Officers' Memorial Service is held annually on the last Sunday of September, to ensure the sacrifices made by those killed in the line of duty aren't forgotten.
The B.C. event is to take place in Stanley Park.
Canning signed up to march in Ottawa's memorial with her husband Const. Joel Shoihet, a former White Rock officer, after discovering the timing fit perfectly with their holidays.
Last week, she remembered how the deaths of four Mayerthorpe officers in 2005 weighed heavily on her decision to join the RCMP.
Consts. Peter Schiemann, Brock Myrol, Anthony Gordon and Leo Johnston were shot to death March 3 of that year during a raid on an Alberta farm. Myrol had been on duty less than three weeks.
The tragedy unfolded as Canning was applying to join the RCMP.
"I was like, I don't know if I can do it," she said. "I did some soul-searching after that happened."
Last year, the names 742 officers were engraved on the Honour Roll. In the past year, three police and peace officers have died in the line of duty.
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