“Ride to Remember” motorcyclists to pledge “never again” on Parliament Hill
OTTAWA – Uniting in opposition to genocide, motorcycle riders from five countries will converge on Parliament Hill for a Holocaust remembrance ceremony Thursday May 31, to stand together and pledge “Never Again.”
Riders from Canada, the United States, Israel, Australia and the United Kingdom will take part in the event which is co-sponsored by Peter Goldring, Member of Parliament for Edmonton East, and David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale. As many as 1,000 bikers are expected to take part in the ceremony.
“It has been almost 70 years since the end of the Second World War,” Mr. Goldring says, “and the horror of man’s inhumanity to man that we now call the Holocaust. Regrettably the Holocaust was not the last genocide of the 20th century. We all need to be vigilant, working together to ensure that such evil does not happen again.”
Canadian organizer Howard Galganov, of Montreal’s Maccabees Motorcycle Club, says riders from the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance (JMA - an international umbrella organization for Jewish bikers worldwide) will be joined on Parliament Hill by Mission: M25 (an American Christian motorcycle group) and different Canadian motorcycle clubs, including The C.A.V., Canadian Army Veterans Motorcycle Club.
The ceremony will remember the more than 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust with speeches and prayers from political and religious leaders, culminating in a pledge of “Never Again.”
The event is part of the JMA’s annual Ride to Remember, which is being held in Canada May 31 - June 2, the first time the event has been held outside the US. Following the Parliament Hill event the bikers will proceed to CFB Trenton for a ceremony there, followed by JMA weekend events in Markham.
On Saturday June 2 members of the JMA will join 5,000 other bikers as part of the Heroes Highway ride from Trenton to Polson Pier in Toronto.