HMCS Malahat to participate in Freedom of the City 

photo supplied

In conjunction with the Naval Reserve Centennial, HMCS Malahat will exercise its Freedom of the City on Sept. 23, along with many other Naval Reserve Divisions across Canada. The observance, commencing at 10:00 a.m., will include a parade through the streets of downtown Victoria and a ceremony in Centennial Square.

This marks the first time that HMCS Malahat has celebrated this event since the Naval Reserve’s 75th anniversary in 1998.

The tradition of granting Freedom of the City to a military unit goes back more than three centuries. The Freedom of the City means, in the physical sense, the granting of the privilege for all time for a specific military unit to march through the city with ‘drums beating, colours flying, and bayonets fixed’. It is a most prized honour, for it recognizes the honourable record of the military unit and demonstrates the affection and esteem with which it is held by the community and the trust the citizenry has in the military to protect its democratic institution.