Ontario is calling on Ottawa to establish an independent military honours review board to go over veterans’ cases where evidence suggests the Victoria Cross criteria were met.
There’s been a push locally and nationally to see Jess Larochelle posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross for his heroic and selfless acts in Afghanistan, with some in the gallery at Queen’s Park as MPP Vic Fedeli spoke to the motion on Thursday.
“There’s no doubt he met that standard,” says Fedeli. “These gentlemen have made his case for years now. Though he has been gone for nearly three years his legacy endures in the courage he showed and the lives he saved.”
Fedeli told the Legislature that despite being gravely wounded in Afghanistan in 2006 after his outpost came under Taliban attack, Larochelle mounted a brave defence to help save his fellow injured soldiers.
“This house has an opportunity to do what’s right,” says Fedeli. “To honour not only Jess Larochelle but all those who’s sacrifice has yet to be recognized by the country they served and the country they loved.”
The province says the Victoria Cross has not been awarded in Canada since the end of the Second World War in 1945, despite there being many worthy potential recipients.
Larochelle, who was born in Restoule, passed away in 2023.
