Premier David Eby has issued the following statement marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands:

“On May 5, 1945, occupying German forces in the Netherlands surrendered to the Allies, ending five years under the brutal Nazi regime. The Canadian First Army played a central role in defeating the enemy, engaging in fierce battles to remove the occupiers village by village, town by town, canal by canal. Joyous crowds of civilians cheered Canadian troops as the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague were finally liberated.

“The Dutch also endured a deliberate famine known as the Hunger Winter, during which about 20,000 Dutch people died. With liberation, Canadians and our allies delivered food and other provisions to a grateful people.

“Canada also provided refuge for the Dutch royal family during the Second World War. During their stay, the Canadian government temporarily declared an Ottawa hospital ward to be extraterritorial land in 1943 so Princess Juliana’s third daughter, Princess Margriet, could be born as a Dutch national. Princess Margriet is scheduled to visit Ottawa later this month to take part in commemorative events, including officially opening the famous Canadian Tulip Festival, which helps keep alive the memory of Canada’s role in liberating her homeland.

“Our two nations forged lasting bonds from that wartime experience. Many Dutch people immigrated to Canada after the war, including more than 1,800 war brides, leaving their devastated homeland to start new lives in a new nation.

“The connection between our peoples endures eight decades later. Along with strong commercial ties, the people of the Netherlands have never forgotten the sacrifices made by Canadians in freeing their country from fascist tyranny. Every Christmas Eve, local schoolchildren light a candle for every fallen soldier at the Holten Canadian War Cemetery and the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery.

“The liberation came at a terrible price. More than 7,600 Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen died in the eight-month campaign to free the Netherlands from Nazi oppression.

“Today, symbols of the friendship between Canada and the Netherlands can be found across our land. In Victoria, the Netherlands Centennial Carillon with its 62 bells was a gift from British Columbia’s Dutch community to celebrate Canada’s Centennial in 1967.

“May the ties between our two democratic and peace-loving countries strengthen in an age when authoritarianism is once again on the rise. And may we never forget the sacrifice required to defeat those forces. Lest we forget.”